Randy Winton

As I write this, Christmas Eve has turned into the early hours of Christmas morning. It won’t be long before four boys will wake up with sleepy yawns and great anticipation for what’s awaiting them under the tree. It’s pretty much the same scenario every year, except the toys get more sophisticated and the boys grow taller. But it is still every bit as much fun every time. Something about a Christmas morning and children that remind you what a blessing it is to be a daddy.

So, here I sit well after midnight in the stillness and silence of this holiest of nights … and reflect.

The craziness of the season has wound down to these quiet moments, and I sit in a chair where the only light in the house comes from the soft glow of the Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. The boys and Rachel have long ago fallen asleep. But not me.

Frankly, I don’t want to sleep. Sitting here bathed in Christmas lights helps me to be still long enough to realize and appreciate what a lucky guy I am and I begin to count my blessings: I have a great relationship with my wife and my boys, I have friendships that mean everything to me and I can look back and say that 2009 has been tremendously memorable. As always, for some reason outside the realm of my understanding God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve.

But on this night, there is more to appreciate; more to consider than my own life … because somewhere hundreds of miles away is a man I have never met who is hugging his 9-year-old son tighter than he ever has before.

As the lights twinkle off newly fallen snow in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, I imagine a guy named David Goldman is sitting in his own living room, being warmed by the glow of his own lighted Christmas tree, stroking the hair of his own son who is home for a Christmas morning for the first time in five years.

And while Sean sleeps soundly in his father’s lap, I imagine David doesn’t want this moment between father and son to ever end.

It’s a moment he thought may never be experienced after his son was taken to Brazil 5 years ago and held in a foreign place in what amounted to a family kidnapping. Government red tape and stuff I can’t even begin to pretend to understand consistently worked against David’s fight to regain custody of his cherished son.

Five years. I can’t even imagine what a father gives up or misses in his boy’s life over that time. Games, school plays, first tooth falling out. Five long, painful years that can never be given back.

Yet, despite all that worked against him, this committed father never gave up. He made trip after trip, plea after plea, court date after court date. And, heartbreak after heartbreak, David Goldman went home empty handed.

For more than two years I have followed this story of this remarkable father and his quest to regain custody of his son. Of all the interviews and written stories and television profiles there was one moment that has stuck in my gut that I will never forget.

He was asked by a reporter why he kept going back; why, after so many times having his heart broken did he continue to pursue what had seemingly become a meaningless, fruitless pursuit. It took him a moment to compose himself, and through streaming tears and measured words he replied, “I will never give up. He is my son and I will never give up trying to get him back.” And again, quieter this time, almost a whisper: “He is my son.”

Then I remember another Father who said the same thing … this time to an entire world.

In Luke 19 Jesus wraps up the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector who went from stealing to being humbled by mercy and saved by grace. As we come to verse 10 there is a moment of celebration where Jesus happily proclaims: “Salvation has come to this house … for the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

And so God’s claim to the world is the Promise of all promises: The Father never gives up searching for us. He never stops pursuing us.

He looked at me back some time ago, when I was lost and far away from Him … and with resolve in His voice and undying love in His heart He said: “I will never give up. He is my son.”

He said the same for you too.

Maybe you need to hear that today. Maybe you need to know there is a Savior pursuing you with the deepest of steadfast devotion. Maybe you need to know today that no matter where you are His hand is long enough to reach you and to pull you in to a love and a life like you’ve never known before.

I can’t help but think that somehow Sean knew his daddy wouldn’t give up; that sooner or later he’d find him and bring him home. Maybe on this Christmas day you needed to hear that because the fact is, we all have a longing to be with our Savior, even if we don’t realize yet only He can fill that void. After all, we were created with that desire to have a relationship with Him.

So, as I sit here in the silence of the night, I feel like a certain 9-year-old boy in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, safely resting in the arms of a father who refused to give up.

And in the glow and warmth of these Christmas lights, I’m reminded of a manger where, 2000 years ago, a baby was born to pursue me, rescue me and ultimately give me The Gift of peace and rest that lasts for eternity.