Jesus Loves You

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” (Romans 8: 26, NIV)

In 1988 Robert Fulgham wrote a book called All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Some of the things he listed were: share everything; play fair; don’t hit people; put things back where you found them, clean up your own mess; don’t take things that aren’t yours, and say you’re sorry when you hurt someone. These are all important lessons to learn as a young child.

But if you were lucky enough to be taken to Sunday School or Vacation Bible School when you were in kindergarten, you would have also learned that Jesus loves you. You would have probably sung a song called “Jesus Loves Me:”

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.”

If you didn’t learn that Jesus loves you in Sunday School, it’s not too late. You are never to old to learn or to be reminded that Jesus loves you. That simple fact is the foundation of faith— and for your security throughout your life. No matter what happens to you, no matter what you do, or how you disappoint yourself or others, he will always love you. You just need to go back to the bottomless well of his love and fall on your knees before him. Jesus loves you.

Jesus loves you so much that even when you are too weak to pray, his Spirit will jump in and pray for you: “God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves . . . ” (Romans 8: 26, The Message).

The Scripture lessons this week[1] remind us of the basics that we learned about God in Sunday School, that remain important throughout our lives. The God of the Bible is the one true God. Isaiah reminds us that God told him that “I am the first and the last; apart from me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44: 6-8). David sings: “The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees.” (Psalm 119: 64). Jesus loves you.

Another thing we learned in kindergarten is to listen with our ears. After teaching his disciples a lesson, Jesus said: “Are you listening to this? Really?” (Matthew 13: 43, The Message). The lesson was this: A farmer planted some wheat seeds in his field. During the night, a bad person planted weeds in the same field. The farmer decided to let them grow side by side, because pulling up the weeds would disturb the wheat. The weeds will be pulled when the wheat is harvested, he reasoned. Likewise, Jesus will come and weed out those who do evil; those who have lived holy lives will “shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matthew 13: 43). Jesus loves you.

All you really need to know about God you learned in Sunday School or in Vacation Bible School—that Jesus loves you, and that even when you are weak, he will pray for you; you are not alone. Jesus’ Spirit is like surround sound.  He is all around you. Are you listening?  Jesus loves you. He has you surrounded.

Diane Cieslikowski Reagan

[1] The Scripture texts for the 7^th Sunday after Pentecost are Isaiah 44:6-8; Psalm 119: 57-64; Romans 8: 18-27; Matthew 13: 24-30; 36-43.