On Wednesday mornings I volunteer at Urban Christian Academy as a reading buddy in their second grade classroom.  One of my buddy’s favorite books is Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea.  I am repeatedly fascinated by how God uses the simplest of things to speak to me.  Let me tell you how He used a children’s book and a 7 year old little girl.

Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea is about a narwhal who meets a jelly fish.  And even though he sees and talks to the jelly fish (whom he calls Jelly) he doesn’t believe he is real.  They swim around discovering different things; a sandwich, a waffle, a party hat, etc. All the time Jelly is trying to convince Narwhal that he is in fact real.  Anytime they find something new Narwhal exclaims “That’s my favorite!”  Regardless of what it is, over and over again he claims it to be his favorite thing.  It was a cute book and when we finished I off handedly asked my buddy what her favorite thing was.  She looked up, shrugged her shoulders and said “well Jesus”.  Her answer surprised me, convicted me and humbled me.  There was no hesitation, no considering of the options, just Jesus right there on the tip of her tongue and forefront of her mind.  I was so surprised that I didn’t even respond.  That small event has stuck with me since it happened, I believe partly because “Jesus” more than likely would not have been my first answer.  Sure, I might have got there eventually but my first thought probably would have been something like coffee or chocolate or my family.

With the Christmas season in full swing, I felt compelled to share this story with others instead of keeping it hidden in my heart just for me to reflect on and enjoy.  Most of us will give and receive gifts over the next few days and weeks.  Many of us will ask, or be asked what our favorite gift was.  I wonder how many of us will respond with a quick shrug of our shoulders and say “well Jesus”?  I mean after all shouldn’t He be our favorite?  He is the reason we celebrate Christmas.  He is the one thing that will never wear out, never stop working, and never break.  We can take Him with us anywhere and everywhere.  He is always faithful and loves us unconditionally.  His gift costs us nothing, and we don’t have to search for it, He is right here waiting for us to simply accept Him.

The whole time Narwhal and Jelly are swimming around the ocean, Jelly is trying to convince Narwhal that he is in fact a real creature.  At one point Jelly even stings Narwhal trying to prove his realness.  Narwhal’s thought is “what an amazing imagination I have!”  It makes me wonder how much like Narwhal we are, when it comes to believing Jesus is real.  We hear about the birth of Jesus every year at Christmas time, but do you really believe that He is real or is it just a nice story to enjoy at Christmas?  We see evidence of our creator everywhere, but do we take the time to acknowledge it and him or do we explain it away, much like Narwhal does with Jelly in the book.  Sometimes God will even “sting” us to get our attention, as to say I’m right here you big dummy.  But too often I think we are so focused on ourselves that we miss what God is doing or deny that He is trying to get our attention. By the end of the book, Narwhal is convinced that Jelly is real and declares Jelly as his favorite thing and new BFF.

I want to leave you with a couple of questions.  For those of you reading this that do not know Jesus or believe that He is real I want to encourage you to investigate further.  I can tell you that He is in fact real and that He loves you very much.  And I would love to talk to you more about Him if you have questions.  And for those of you reading this that do know Jesus, I want to ask –is He your favorite?  And if the answer is no, why not spend some time thinking and reflecting on who or what is in His place as favorite.

Christmas is just a few days away, what if we changed our focus from what we want to what we already have and declare Jesus as our Favorite?