December 11,
2016
“7 Swans a Swimming AND 6 Geese a Laying”
“7 Swans a Swimming AND 6 Geese a Laying”
Today
we reach the mid-point of our journey of exploration of the 12 Days of
Christmas that are meant to be celebrated after December 24th. We have heard about the drummers, pipers,
lords a leaping, ladies dancing and the maids a milking, now we encounter the “7 Swans a Swimming AND 6
Geese a Laying”.
Clearly there is an importance of the “7 Swans a Swimming AND 6 Geese a Laying”,
but believe it or not the importance clearly applies to each and every one of us
today through a gift of the Holy Spirt and how our universe was created by God
for us.
We
have heard before about the 9 Ladies Dancing referring to the fruits of the
Holy Spirit that are to be manifest in each of our lives. Well, the “7 Swans a Swimming” alludes to the
gifts of the Holy Spirit given unto each of us.
Some among us doubt we have any gifts from the Holy Spirit, but the
reality is they are like some of the muscles in our body, we don’t know we have
them. Does this mean we have an equal
share of each gift? By no means, we are
as unique as our fingerprints and our DNA and these 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit have
one purpose, they are to be used for God’s Glory here in our world. Listen to these gifts and see which ones
resonate with your own life.
The
gifts given by God are “wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude,
piety and fear of the Lord”.
With each gift comes great responsibility. And Christians are not required by any law,
but encouraged to discern if we have ‘wisdom, understanding, counsel,
knowledge, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord’. For when we seek and ask God for each gift,
we like Solomon, will have more of each given unto us by God. And these “7 Swans a Swimming”, these gifts are
not only given so that grace may abound, but in order for others to hear what
Jesus Christ did on Calvary for all of mankind.
The
“7 Swans a Swimming” are the Gifts
of the Holy Spirit that are given for the express purpose of their use by us in
God’s Creation. When we use them for
God’s Glory and with a healthy fear of the Lord, bow before Him seeking knowledge,
wisdom, counsel and understanding from Him, God will give it. For in our using the fortitude like the
farmers of old to carve out a homestead here on the plains, but in true piety
reading their bible and trusting God for not only a harvest, but their existence,
God will provide as He did for them, but also and especially for each and every
one of us today. This is why the 12 Days
of Christmas song not only can inspire us to share the Gospel, but use our
muscle of faith and the “7 Swans a
Swimming” to help others trust in God more fully.
Our
trust of God not only can and should be for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the
“7 Swans a Swimming”, but
also the “6 Geese a Laying”. For the “6
Geese a Laying” connects us to the world we live in and which was created
by God in 6 Days. These “6 Geese a Laying” represent the
days of Creation and how each day was not only unique in what was accomplished,
but a clear demonstration of the wisdom, forethought, knowledge and
understanding of God with each Word spoken that brought into existence this
world in the created elements we at times take for granted. From the wind that at times dries the ground
to driving the rain or snow. To the
ground that yields the fruits of corn, wheat and milo. The grass that feeds the cows that we
barbeque. The air that with every breath
we take not only provides our bodies with energy to move, but in a perfect
cycle provides the plants the needed carbon dioxide to grow and make oxygen
from the sunlight.
The
“6 Geese a Laying” the 6 days
of Creation were perfectly crafted and fit together in logical order by God, not
only for the creative order of what needed to be done first, but the gift
looked for and found in Jesus Christ.
For the “6 Geese a Laying”
understood clearly how and what God would accomplish through the 6 Days that
saw the creation of the world we live and work in today.
Yet,
how are the “6 Geese a Laying”
and the “7 Swans a Swimming”
connected with us today who come to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Jesus
Christ coming? Simply this song opens a
door for unbelievers. Those who have not
heard the Gospel message and have not encountered the gift of eternal life
given through Jesus Christ. The “6 Geese a Laying” and the “7 Swans a Swimming” are the opportunity
for us to proclaim the wonders of God, not only of God’s Creation that we live
in, but the gifts given unto us by the Holy Spirit.
Yesterday
was one opportunity to do exactly that, share and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus
Christ to and for the people not only in our community, but as a message of
hope for our world. When we gathered
together and went and sang the songs of Advent and Christmas in our community
at individuals homes and at Wheat Ridge and Good Samaritan, we not only serenaded
the people, but clearly, emphatically and boldly used the “7 Swans a Swimming” gifts of the Holy Spirit and spoke of
the beauty of where our Savior Jesus Christ would be born in this world that
came when referred to the “6 Geese a
Laying”.
It
is my prayer, that we may continue as we learn more about the 12 Days of
Christmas understand that each stanza of the 12 Days of Christmas points to and
leads us up to the greatest gift given unto mankind in Jesus Christ. For not only are the “6 Geese a Laying” and the “7 Swans a Swimming” instrumental in salvation history, they
reveal the connection we each have of the Spiritual gifts we have been given
and that we can daily use in the created world.
For it is clear, the gifts we have been given by God are meant not to be
hid under a bushel basket, but daily shared and used for the proclamation of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ even with the simple words of the “7 Swans a Swimming AND 6
Geese a Laying”.
AMEN.
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