One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.

He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty.

Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never traveled more than two hundred miles from the place He was born.

He never wrote a book.

He never held an office.

He never had a family or owned a house.

He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness.

He had no credentials but Himself.

He gathered a group of friends around Him and taught them His way of life.

He was thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against Him.

One friend denied Him, another betrayed Him; others deserted Him.

He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial.

He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.

While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only property He had on earth-His coat.

When He was dead He was laid in a borrowed grave through the kindness of a friend.

Two thousand years have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life on fan on earth as much as

One Solitary Life

Written by Dr. James Allen Francis

This is read at the end of my family Christmas pageant every year by one of my uncles. We celebrate not only the baby but the man that he became. I am so grateful for the sacrifice He made and the fact that even though He knew His choice would be hard He chose to do it anyway. I know My Savior, Jesus Christ, lives and because of that I know that I have the chance to become like Him and we all do as long as we make those choices to do so. Merry Christmas and much love to you and your families.