'Twas the night before Christ came, And all through the house,
Not a creature was praying -- not even my spouse.
Our Bibles were lain on the shelf without care,
In hopes that Jesus would not soon appear.
The children were dressing to crawl into bed,
Not once ever kneeling, or bowing a head.
And Mom in her rocker, with the babe on her lap,
Was watching the late show, while I took a nap.
When, out of the East, there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what's the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But Angels proclaiming that Jesus was here!
With a light like the sun, sending forth a bright ray,
I knew in a moment this must be The Day!
The light of His face made me cover my head,
It was Jesus returning, just like He said!
And 'though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him, in spite of myself.
In the Book of Life, which He held in His hand,
Was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word as He searched for my name,
When He said, "It's not here", my head hung in shame.
The people whose names had been written with love,
He gathered to take to His Father above.
With those He'd redeemed, Christ arose without sound,
While all of the rest were left standing around.
I fell to my knees, but it was too late,
I had waited too long, and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight,
Oh, if only we had been ready tonight!
In the words of this poem, the meaning is clear,
The returning of Jesus is soon drawing near.
There's only one life and when comes the last call,
We'll find that the Bible was true after all!
- Author Unknown -
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