For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
As I look out over the city of Jersulalum and specifically the Kidron Valley, between the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount, I can’t help but be overwhelmed with excitement. This city and this valley are rich with history, a large majority of which I will not claim to know or even understand. But what I do know and can fully grasp is this… Jesus walked this valley. His feet touched this earth, his voiced echoed through these hills, He breathed in this air. Jesus changed people’s lives forever from this place.
And one of those lives is mine.
Over the past two weeks, a clear theme has emerged from my travels. From OKC to NYC to Tel Aviv this theme has been constant and increasing day by day, city by city. From the millions of people crammed inside Times Square, the colossal skyscrapers jutting up all around me, to the breathtaking views of the Sea of Galilee, to the expanse of history settled under my feet as I type.
I am small.
I am nothing.
I am so inexplicably insignificant and unimportant it’s laughable.
Yet in spite of my littleness, God sent Jesus to this earth, to walk this ground, to die a brutal death literally just a few hundred feet from where I am sitting, and He did it for me.
You see, there’s HOPE in that! There’s a lot of HOPE in this feeling of utter insignificance. Because you see if God would have in His unfathomable omnipotence sent His one and only son to save the world, then that includes me. The world He came to save, as BIG as it is, actually includes me.
John 3:16 finally makes senses. God really does love me.
A broken, addicted, compulsive sinner, who can’t be happy, is constantly worrying and always fearful.
Yea, God loves me.
A jerk, a doubter, a cynic, a hypocrite and a habitual complainer.
Yup, God loves me.
Despite my feelings of insignificance, despite my general lack of contribution or influence, despite all the horrible things I have done, thought or said, today the message rings true. I see it, I sense it, I taste it.
God loves me.
And if God loves me then that means God loves you too.
I pray you come to believe this deep inside your soul.
May you experience His love and may it change you forever!
-Hope is Alive