or 'the love factor'
“The young child jumped up and down while her father pulled a small package from his jacket pocket. He bent down and handed it to her, smiling at her enthusiasm. She squealed with delight when the paper was torn away, revealing some little trinket. She danced around the room and he swept her, giggling, into his strong arms – she was still clutching the precious gift tightly in both of her hands…”
No doubt this scene is familiar to anyone acquainted with young children, or who once was a young child. (There are some people about whom I have my doubts…) If nothing else, we’ve read it many times in books or seen it on television. As with other things we notice as common threads though, we have to ask questions about it. (Or we should ask questions, at least, I want to.) So asking away…
Why was it so important to this child that her father had given her a present? Undoubtedly she had dozens of books and toys already; how could his small- even insignificant- keepsake mean so much to her? You might accredit it to a child’s selfishness but I’ve decided to call this little oddity the love factor.
This is the beauty of a child’s love and you can never quite shut that part of you away either. A gift, no matter how small, receives the greatest value when it comes from someone we value greatly. That first pocketknife, that tiny blue bottle, that necklace of orange and purple beads, a picture scribbled with crayon smudges… They all are cherished because the Giver is cherished. The value doesn’t come from the thing itself but from the love with which it was given.
I think this is how God is with His children. He lovingly gives us good things – not because we follow all of the rules or got all of the rituals right. (Although He does reward those who diligently seek Him) Christianity is God holding out his goodness and saying to His sons and daughters “Here”- then smiling at our delight with His gifts.
What if that child had run to her father, snatched the present, mumbled ‘thanks’ and hurried off to play? A sad thought, isn’t it? Her father gave her the gift because he loved her. She loved the gift because she loved him and he loved her.
Well, what if beforehand, the child had made a detailed list of all the things which pleased him and the things which displeased him so she could follow the formulated plan in order to receive an equally greater number of gifts because of her improved behavior?
While I can’t see a little child doing that exactly, it portrays quite accurately the attitude of some Christians toward God. They try to figure out what behavior 'pleases' God, like pushing the correct combination to make the candy bar come out of the machine. Oh, I must be messed up somewhere and that's why God's not blessing me. Of course, this can be true somehwat, but what if every once in a while (or quite often), God might want us to leave behind our charts and graphs and lists and equations and just get to know Him?
What if, by knowing His love better, we’ll love Him better? What if by loving Him better, we’ll want to please Him for the right reasons. And maybe, just maybe, then we can work to please Him without losing sight of the gift that is the most important, the one we often take for granted– His Love.
PS- you wouldn't believe the technical difficulty associated with posting this!!
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