Can I Give You A Lift?
A couple of years before I moved to Young, I had just finished teaching a Scripture class at my local school when my Fire Brigade pager went off. Amongst other things, I was also the Captain of the local Rural Fire Brigade. I had foolishly decided to walk to school that day so, unfortunately, no car. I shoved all my books into my backpack, threw it over my shoulder, and started running. I had to get from the school, in one corner of town, to the Fire Station, in the opposite corner, a distance of about 2km. It was a hot December day and I quickly worked up a sweat.
As I was running, a car slowed down beside me. The window wound down and a stranger called out, “You look like you’re in a hurry. Can I give you a lift?” I jumped in, told them where I was going, and two minutes later was dropped off outside the Fire Station. I had not met that person before and, to the best of my knowledge, I never saw them again, but the experience gave me a fresh perspective on Christmas.
Life can be hard going. But at Christmas, God, seeing us bowed down under a burden too heavy to bear, pulled his car up alongside the world, wound down his window, and said to us, “You look like could use my help? Jump in, and I’ll take you where you need to go.” It’s hard to get our minds around that. In the birth of Jesus, the God of the universe came alongside us, the God of the universe spoke to us, and the God of the universe offered us his help. Listen to how the bible describes Christmas…
“When God our Saviour appeared, he showed us how good and kind he is. He saved us because of his mercy, and not because of any good things that we have done. God washed us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave us new birth and a fresh beginning” (Titus 3:4).
Now if God really has pulled up alongside us and is offering to take us where we need to go, what are our alternatives? I can only think of two. We can say, “no thank you, I’ll struggle on, on my own,” and keep running. Or we can get in and travel through life alongside Jesus and let him carry us to our eternal home. Personally, I’m all in favour of taking the easy way and riding with Jesus. You can find out how at a Church this Christmas.
Neil Percival
As I was running, a car slowed down beside me. The window wound down and a stranger called out, “You look like you’re in a hurry. Can I give you a lift?” I jumped in, told them where I was going, and two minutes later was dropped off outside the Fire Station. I had not met that person before and, to the best of my knowledge, I never saw them again, but the experience gave me a fresh perspective on Christmas.
Life can be hard going. But at Christmas, God, seeing us bowed down under a burden too heavy to bear, pulled his car up alongside the world, wound down his window, and said to us, “You look like could use my help? Jump in, and I’ll take you where you need to go.” It’s hard to get our minds around that. In the birth of Jesus, the God of the universe came alongside us, the God of the universe spoke to us, and the God of the universe offered us his help. Listen to how the bible describes Christmas…
“When God our Saviour appeared, he showed us how good and kind he is. He saved us because of his mercy, and not because of any good things that we have done. God washed us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He gave us new birth and a fresh beginning” (Titus 3:4).
Now if God really has pulled up alongside us and is offering to take us where we need to go, what are our alternatives? I can only think of two. We can say, “no thank you, I’ll struggle on, on my own,” and keep running. Or we can get in and travel through life alongside Jesus and let him carry us to our eternal home. Personally, I’m all in favour of taking the easy way and riding with Jesus. You can find out how at a Church this Christmas.
Neil Percival