Only one week left until Christmas arrives. Only one more week to complete the story of my father and mother’s engagement, but we will need all of eternity to grasp the fullness of “God Love Story”!
Weddings rings have deep significance. For hundreds of years, a Roman woman received only a simple wedding band made of ivory or iron or copper or even bone. The ring was a mark of ownership. (Not very PC in our culture!) A thousand years later, the engagement ring entered the picture. And diamonds and jewels did not appear on these rings for another 500 years. A diamond has a natural beauty with all its facets and planes reflecting the light, but, being the hardest of gems, it also represented the enduring nature of a relationship. My father chose to have a family diamond reset in a ring for my mother.
April 2, 1941…he wrote, “I gave Joan the ring last evening which I think greatly delighted her – and it does look well on her, if I do say so.” Dad laughed when “Joan’s friend, Daisy Nixon, put on her dark glasses when she heard Joan was coming down to show her the engagement ring.” My father gave my mother a diamond because he planned to be with her for a long time!
Way back in the book of Genesis, God gave His people a sign of His enduring commitment. He had just caused a flood to destroy all of humanity except for Noah and his small family on the ark. In Gen. 9:11-13, he told Noah, “I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will flood waters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is a sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.”
I find it interesting that God chose to give us His whole heart but only half a ring – an arc – to show His commitment. What sign do we offer as a symbol of our commitment to Him? Does it glitter for all to see?
