From the Manger To the Cross — Prepositional Phrase or Powerful Truth

From the Manger To the Cross — Prepositional Phrase or Powerful Truth
I remember learning prepositional phrases in grade school. A preposition is a word such as: after, in, to, on, with and are usually used in front of nouns or pronouns and they show the relationship with words in a sentence. I became a technical editor at an Electric Cooperative years ago where I worked as an Administrative Assistant to the General Manager. I started out simply reading, proofing, and editing articles that were submitted for the monthly newsletter and publication. Before long, I became a journalist as I interviewed employees and customers, and eventually became the editor of that monthly publication.

Isn’t it amazing how, when we are willing to adapt to new learning experiences and then embrace them as our own, that we excel in new business and life opportunities? That on-the-job training has served me well as I continue to provide those skills to ministries and organizations today.

As a technical editor, I recognize the appropriate use of prepositions and am keen on being sure that I never leave them hanging at the end of a sentence. For example, incorrectly used: “I learned that skill at the company I worked for.” Correctly worded: “At the company I worked for, I learned that skill.” No big deal in casual communications like a text message or email, but when I was editing my daughter’s books or writing an article for a publication, I made sure I wasn’t leaving them hanging.

Enough of my grammar lesson for today because this post is about the proper understanding of the prepositions that should cause us all to feel absolutely charged up about important relationships. For example: Abraham Lincoln’s famous words from the Gettysburg Address were “a government OF the people, BY the people, FOR the people”, is memorable for its prepositions. But, even greater is our relationship with God. One of the ways we can discover more about the Lord, and His relationship with us, is through the prepositions that indicate our position IN Him: “All things have been created THROUGH Him and FOR Him, and He is BEFORE all things, and IN Him all things hold together”(Colossians 1:16-17). Our entire relationship with God is very well expressed with three prepositions: We are IN Christ, WITH Christ, and UNDER Christ. “WITH God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 “WITHOUT Him we can do nothing.” John 15:5

Just think about this little Baby Boy Who we celebrate during this tender and sweet time of the year Who is packed full of hope and purpose that links together time, people, places and things that glue us together. We aren’t just hanging out there like an incorrect positioning of a prepositional phrase. No hanging, but fully IN us, living THROUGH us, WITH us, FOR us. We can apply all those prepositional phrases TO our lives WITH gratitude that the little BABY went FROM the manger TO the cross and BECAME our Sovereign Lord and Mighty King!