The Washington Post held a contest of the "worst analogies ever written in a high school essay." Listed below are some of the winners.

He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it. (Joseph, Washington)

The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't. (Russell, Springfield)

From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and "Jeopardy" comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30. (Roy, Washington)

Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. (Unknown)

He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree. (Jack, Chevy Chase)

Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph. (Jennifer, Arlington)

John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met. (Russell, Springfield)

The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play. (Barbara, Alexandria)

The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon. (unknown)

Yes, those analogies are horrible! But, reflect for a moment on this question: what analogy would you use to describe the love of God?

We've heard such phrases as "God's love is deeper than the ocean and wider than the sea," but that seems so inadequate. We could compare God's love with the love of a mother for her child, or a policeman risking his life to save someone else's life, but even those analogies fall far short of fully expressing what God's love is like. How do you define the love of God displayed in the wood of the manger and the cross? How do you appreciate emptying heaven of its greatest gift and letting it be rejected and abused to bring life to the people who had chosen to waste it?

Without trying to find a comparison, let us merely stand in awe of God's gracious love beyond comparison and not let the sending and sacrificing of his Son be a Christmas and Easter only fascination. God's love is beyond comprehending, but not beyond appreciating and receiving:

We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. ... God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10 NLT)

Praise God for his love beyond comparison!