God the Father loves us - 2 December 2024

I recently had a talk with somebody and it reminded me of a very important aspect of Christmas. At Christmas time, we usually concentrate on the birth of Jesus and what it means to us. We think about Jesus’s great love for sinners, to the point of dying on the cross for us and we remember what he taught the world about holiness and humbleness.

Through all this, we sometimes forget the message of our verse for today and even many other messages from the Bible. Behind everything that is associated with Christmas, we find the great love that God the Father has for us. We hear about this great love right in the beginning of the Bible. In Genesis 3:9, after man’s disobedience, he came looking for them and called to them, “Where are you?”

Right through the Old Testament, God never failed to keep looking for his people. So often, we see how his chosen people took a wrong turn, even to the point that they preferred to worship idols instead of God. Every time this happened, one can hear God calling them, “where are you?”. Sometimes they need to be chastened, especially when they completely forget to answer when he is calling, but every time he is willing to forgive them.

At a certain moment in time, his people strayed so far away that God had to send them into exile in Babylon, but even then, his love for them was so great that he allowed them to return to their country. Through the prophet Hosea, God told them: “How can I give you up Israel? How can I abandon you? Could I ever destroy you as I did Admah, or treat you as I did Zeboiim? My heart will not let me do it! My love for you is too strong.” (Hosea 11:8) For many ages, the love of God for his recalcitrant people burned so strongly that it culminated in the promise of someone who was to come, to make this love completely visible. Christmas was the time that this happened – Jesus was born.

Knowing about this great love of God our Father, let us make it the starting point of our Christmas celebrations this year. For without this love, we would never have been his children.

Prayer: We thank you, our Father, that you never gave up on us, no matter how far we have gone astray. We pray that we will hear you calling us, strong and clearly, at this time of Christmas. Amen