I got off the bus and started walking towards the flat. My bag hung over my shoulders and swayed as I walked. I was tired and very hungry. The only thought in my mind however was the reaction he would have when he met me. What would he say? What would he do? Thoughts ran through my mind. But I wanted to meet him no matter what and my hope was that he would too. My heart paced faster as I drew near the door to the flat. I rung the door bell. Minutes ticked by and not before long, I heard his footsteps approach the door. He began to shout loudly. We were on either side of the door. It was just a moment of time before someone opened the door and we would come face to face. The door opened. He pulled the door back impatiently with force and ran towards me. I was already on my knees with my arms open. This was the moment I had been waiting for. This was perhaps what he was waiting for too! He came running into my arms and smilingly said, “Papa!” I hugged him as closely as I could. He was my one and a half year old son, John.
Hello everyone! With
Christmas and New Year at the horizon, I am sure everyone is quite busy! I know
of a lot of young people bogged down with their exams and then there are those
who are busy holiday shopping for their loved ones!
For me, the end
of the year as festive as it can get is a great time to sit and look back at
the year that has gone by. This has been an amazing year especially with John
being such an active part of our lives. We also got to go abroad which was a
first timer for my wife Anu. It was the first time she actually even got to fly!
What I’ve found
after going through the book and my own experience in meeting and talking to
quite a few people is that our role as men to be fathers is the most important
second to being husbands. Sadly, our society has not given much importance on
that role. It is least spoken about and rarely applauded today. There is a lot
of emphasis on being successful in careers and jobs but sadly none on being a
successful father.
Yet, one of the
cries of many people today, both young and old is for a father/ father figure. People
are on the lookout for that someone who would accept and understand them for who
they are. They want someone who would believe and bring out the best in them. They
are on the constant lookout for acceptance and affirmation.
With Christmas
coming this week, I’ve been bombarded with a lot of messages and forwards about
how we shouldn’t take Christ out of Christmas and how Santa has nothing to do
with Christmas etc. While I do agree with most, I think there’s a lot more that
Christmas really brings to us.
I hadn’t really
realized this myself till this year. I believe Christmas is the cry of a Father to be united with His children.
Galatians
4:4-7,
“4
But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born
among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might
redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law.
5
Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage.
6
You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children
because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa!
Father!"
7
Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you
are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with
complete access to the inheritance.
(from
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.
All rights reserved.)
Yes, Christmas
is all about Jesus. But Christmas is more
about a Father who wants to be with us and us with Him.
It’s amazing to
think that all of us undoubtedly yearn for a father/ father figure and here is
God waiting to become just that!
When we do
realize that there is a Father waiting for us who loves us and accepts us for
the way we are, we become more secure and confident than ever before.
He is the One
who can accept and understand us for the way we are. He believes and wants to
bring out the best in us. But will we yield to Him?
As most of you
head out this season and into the next year awaiting for what life is going to
bring, my prayer is that you would go into it with the realization that you
don’t have to face it alone but that there is a Father who wants to go with
you. That’s what Christmas is all about.
So
here’s wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
