Arms stretched, leg’s kicking, she barely contains her excitement. But it’s her face that really betrays her. Squeaking and cooing, she looks back up at me and every part of her smiles. Her eyes, her mouth, her cheeks, her chin, they all join together in one over the top beam of approval. The only time adults smile like this is when they’ve just come home from a long trip and are met by a long unseen loved one; or when they’ve just won some type of lottery; or, well, you get the idea. Adults have learned that this type of smile should only be reserved for the rarest occasions. But not Ella. She’s not been trained yet in the art of emotional restraint, for her it’s all out there. I’m her daddy, come to rescue her from the bars of her afternoon jail cell, and I’m deserving of the warmest smile.

In Psalm 34, King David gives us a wonderful command. The various translations all put it slightly different, but it’s The Message paraphrase that has captured my imagination this week. Listen to what it says:

Look at him; give him your warmest smile.

And now you see why I tell you about Ella. It’s the best illustration of what David has in mind for us. He’s not inviting us to give God a passing glance, or a polite hello, or even a warm smile. No, he’s saying to us, “guys, let’s see your best Ella! Get your leg’s kicking, stretch out your arms, let your eyes delight in what you behold. You know that smile you reserve for those rare occasions? This is the one I want you to give Abba!”

Look at him; give him your warmest smile.

It’s such a wonderful command and a great translation of it. In a few short words it paints a perfect picture of a perfect response to God; and this Christmas, I want us to take it at face value. For some of us this means we’ll first have to actually look at him (that’s the first part of the command). We’ve been looking everywhere else for months now, and we’ve not even noticed that our daddy is standing right over our crib. For some of us we need to start here. Re-orienting ourselves with who we actually are. Despite all our success and independence, the Bible tells us again and again, we are only children and he is our Father - and we need to look to him, for everything. It starts with looking.

But that’s just the beginning. The next step will be unlocking our emotions from their stoic storage so that we can really delight in the Father above. And why would we do this? Why would we give him our “special reserve, leg kicking” approval? Because He is the kindest, most loving, most favorable, most benevolent, most forgiving Father the world has ever known. He has never failed us. And every time we’ve called, he has come to hear our need (even if sometimes he’s determined to let us cry it out a little). We’ve never, ever, known anyone like him. He loves perfectly, sacrificially, never “endingly”. He is the father we all wished we had, until that is we discover that all along, we’ve actually had him. He’s been there, the whole time, standing above our crib. This Father of ours is so good.

And should we need any proof of how good and loving he is - beyond our life stories that is - we need only recall the season we once again find ourselves in. If there is one thing Christmas should remind us, it’s the depth of love this Father has for his children. Remember, it’s because God so loved the world that he came.

Now, given all this, doesn’t David’s challenge make all the more sense? If Ella responds to me - the frail, half-beat, father that I am - the way she does, then what other response would we rightly give a Father like this?