For the past two days I’ve been in what I’m calling a “funk”. I feel distracted and irritable. I’ve struggled to write this blog. I’m not sure what’s wrong. Frankly, I have very little to complain about. Many others, even within our church family, are going through so much more than I am. Even still, my frustration is real. On the verge of a breaking point, I went for a walk outside about thirty minutes ago. It’s not great weather for a walk. I didn’t make it far. But I found myself singing, “Jesus loves me, this I know.”
In my distress, this simple children’s song is still wonderfully true:
“Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.”
With uncertainty all around us, I had to remind myself of this beautiful truth. Yes, Jesus loves me. And he loves you, too. And yes, the Bible tells us so. Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. But it doesn’t just tell me. I could tell my wife I love her over and over and over again, but do I really love her if I never do anything about it? But God has done something about his love. Something extreme and magnificent and unlike any other. He laid down his life for us while we were his enemies.
The love of God is not just an idea. It’s a historical reality, marked by his death on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. “Yes, Jesus loves me! The cross it tells me so!”
One thing I can be certain of is that Jesus loves me. I’m certain because of what he’s done—what we’re preparing to celebrate together while separate at Easter. Jesus didn’t come to wash our feet only, but to cleanse our hearts with his blood. And being raised from the dead he was shown to be the Son of God. It’s not just that Jesus was a good person who had a lot of love and wise words for living. God himself has come down to us, not to condemn us, but to demonstrate his love for us.
And so, in the midst of my discomfort, whatever that might be and however small and trivial it might seem when compared to the trials of others, we all can be confident in the love of Jesus, not only because the Bible tells us so, but because Easter happened.
After meditating on these words, I found another song popping into my head and out of my mouth:
“I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.”
