Vicar's Blog - December 2013
Have you ever wondered what present to buy for the person
who has everything?
I was listening to the radio recently, whilst driving,
and a discussion was taking place on why there is such compulsion to buy
presents – expensive presents. The underlying suggestion was that it was
necessary in order to show the person for whom you had bought the expensive
gift how much you loved them.
As the programme drew to an end, a counter-argument was
put forward. One person said that, in his experience, at the end of Christmas
Day many children, although pleased with their gifts, are happy just to play
with the wrapping paper or the box the toy came in.
Often, what they really want is a gift that cannot be
wrapped up: time and love. They want a cuddle, to feel loved. As we get older,
we look for similar things – compassion, forgiveness, reliability and
faithfulness.
God is the God of love. He is the faithful God, who keeps
his part of the bargain even when we don’t. He is the reliable God who is
always there for us, who wants to ‘be born in us today’ and to ‘abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel’. He is the God who loves us so much he sent his Son to
forgive us all our wrongs – if we let him – and offers eternal life. He is the
God of compassion, forgiveness, reliability and faithfulness.
He is the God who wants us to love him. God made
everything, has everything. He cannot make us love him, but he invites us to
give him our time and love.