All You Need

Advent has arrived, which means Christmas is not far behind. How I love the bright lights, festive decorations, joyful music, delicious smells, and jolliness of the holidays in celebration of Christ’s coming. For me, it is a blessed time of year but for many, Christmas is a burden. They focus on the struggles of gift-buying, nonstop baking, and added activities on top of an already busy schedule. Others harbor memories they would soon rather forget, allowing depression to sneak in and shatter their Christmas spirit.

These were my thoughts as the choir rehearsed music for our Christmas program. One particular song stood out to me. Here are some of the lyrics from “All You Are” by Nick Robertson, Allie Lapointe, and Tony Wood:

The love that we have longed for, the peace we’ve searched to find;

The hope that we have hungered for, the joy that’s joy divine.

We bow before a manger beneath a shining star saying,

“Jesus, all we need is all You are.”

Who doesn’t long to be loved, I wondered? Yet many feel unloved, drifting through life without meaning and purpose. Peace eludes them as they deal with ongoing challenges day after day after day. And hope . . . well, that has long been gone. It left when your spouse walked out, tired of competing with your time sucked up by never-ending work projects. Hope scurried out the window with the senseless death of a child or spouse. And the chronic pain you’ve had for so long is now part of who you are. You’ve forgotten what it’s like to be pain-free. You tried wearing a mask for a while but finally gave up. Nothing can reassemble the broken pieces of your heart. Love is gone, peace is unreachable, hope is a lost dream, and joy is hidden.

I am here to tell you, my troubled friend, it doesn’t have to be that way. Love, peace, hope, and joy are available. All you need is all that Jesus is. He wants to give you these things. He knows all about your pain, the turmoil in your life, the unrest, the sadness, and the hopelessness you feel. He felt excruciating physical pain when He was crucified. But more than that, He experienced mental torment when His Father turned His face from Him momentarily, unable to look upon the darkness of sin He bore for you and me. But don’t lament; His pain was transformed into victory when He conquered death.

Jesus is all you need because He left the joy of heaven to come to earth, wanting to know what it meant to be human and live in an evil world of sin. His divinity mixed with humanity to redeem us – to provide a way for us to be reconciled and come into the glory of His Kingdom.

Jesus shows us not only how to love but also that He IS love, He IS peace, He IS hope. That’s why we sing about it. He brought those things into the world when He was born. Had he been born like every other child, would we have paid Him any attention? If He were dressed like a king instead of a humble servant, would we have noticed or listened to what He had to say? But he was born in a miraculous way, not like any other child. He deserves our attention.

His life on earth was devoted to acts of love for the hurting, the sick, the demon-possessed, and more. He conversed with harlots, sorcerers, and lepers – people considered undesirable. They needed what He had to offer. We all do. 

There’s a hole the shape of heaven nothing here on earth can fill;

There’s an aching deep inside us, we are restless until,

We realize the reason for the hollow in our hearts;

Jesus, all we need is all You are.

Is there a hole in your heart this Christmas season? If so, consider giving Jesus a chance to fill that hole. I am confident you will find love, peace, hope, and joy. “Bow before the manger beneath a shining star,” so you can join me in saying, “Jesus, all I need is all You are.”

Click on the link to listen to “All You Are.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwSmJtYhly4