Last Thursday, I was cycling back from West Cambridge and looked out over the fields and fields of frosty green basking in the glow of the (sigh) 5pm sunset. Sadly, I realised that the last time I had truly been in awe of the beauty we are constantly surrounded by was probably Freshers’ week, when everything had been new and exciting. I’ve only been here one and a half terms, but already I’m too weary to marvel at the beauty of Cambridge.
As humans, we have a tendency to normalise constants in our lives. The same way you’d soon forget the Mona Lisa if she was hanging over your bed, or the way a prisoner gets used to his cell, or a billionaire his mansion. It dawned on me that perhaps we have begun to do this with God’s love. How blessed we are to worship without worry and praise without persecution! But we, too, might have become comfortable in our relationships with Him.
That’s why this recent evangelical period of CNY outreach dinners and CICCU Events Week have been refreshing for me! While it is truly a blessing to share our faith with our friends, hearing their skepticism might also prod us to be excited and curious again. But how then might we retain this novel sense of falling in love for the first time, all the time? I’ve learnt to do it by reminding myself of the extraordinariness of the Father’s love.
To know something in our heads is different from having it etched in our hearts. And so reminding ourselves of what is literally gospel truth – truth that defies all human reason – can be refreshing every day. How difficult it is to comprehend that the Lord, the Creator of the universe, is always only one prayer away and He’s waiting for our calls. How incredible that our sins should be forgiven by the death of the One who is blameless. How unfathomable that there is a God who, in infinite power, might and wisdom, cares personally for you and for me.
Loving Father, thank you for your unstoppable, unfathomable love for us. We are such a forgetful people — help us to fall more in love with You again every day. May we never grow comfortable in our spiritual journeys but be always alert and seeking. Give food to the hungry and rest to the weary. Amen.
