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A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Revd Jonathan Thomas, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Abergavenny.

Good morning. My stomach does a summersault and my face turns bright red when I take my boys to the surgery and get asked for their dates of birth. My mind goes blank. To be honest, I have a real problem remembering birthdays, whether friends or family.

But today has confused me even more. My online calendar says it’s the King’s birthday, but a quick google of his actual date of birth claims it’s November. Perhaps someone in the royal household has made a mistake.

Just like his mother, King Charles has two birthdays. This second one is linked to the trooping of the colour parade. It’s a sweet deal - I wouldn’t mind two birthdays. That’s pretty special.

Yet God – the King of kings – doesn’t have two birthdays. He doesn’t even have one. The Bible teaches us that God is eternal and as such has no beginning or end. He is the completely self-sufficient One.

However, Christians believe that the Second Person of the Trinity – Jesus Christ – does have a birthday, which we celebrate every Christmas. This is a date of birth that the eternal One decided to have. He entered our world and become one of us. One hymn writer poetically put it: Our God contracted to a span, Incomprehensibly made man.

The big question is: why?

One theologian called Athanasius wrote: ‘God become man that we might become god’. That is, we might know Him.

Eternal God, creator of all things,
We pray this day for King Charles,
Give him the wisdom he needs to fulfil his duties.
We thank you that the Lord Jesus become One us,
Drew near to us and walked with us.
Help us this day to know His presence,
And to follow Him in all we do.
Amen

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