Advent 2022: Friday, December 2

December 2, 2022

A lot of things make me smile. For this I am grateful, as I’d rather have a smile on my face than be scrooge! Recently I was antique shopping with my sisters in a store in Montrose, CO. Antiquing is absolutely one of my favorite past-times! I suppose I can blame my parents for this obsession, they did drag us through hundreds of antique malls, auction houses, and dusty old barns on any given weekend in the Midwest. I can’t say that I am a collector of any one item, I just enjoy the hunt for the perfect find. Old skis, vintage trade blankets, hand-colored photos of the outdoors. These things seem to catch my attention, and on occasion find a way into my home. On this particular outing I came across a hand painted sign (more farmhouse style than vintage /antique) that caught my eye. Written in bold letters it said “JESUS LOVES ME, this I know.” I couldn’t help but smile. A simple phrase most of us learned in a song in Sunday School long ago. 

How many times have you heard that little song and never really thought about the impact of the words? The second half of the phrase “this I know” was the part that really spoke to me. Yes, I KNOW Jesus LOVES me! I know Jesus loves me by the way he guides me through the difficult times of my life. He gives me strength & courage to keep going and to face whatever the future holds even when I feel like crawling back into bed. I know He loves me when I receive answers to my prayers, and his love fills me with a peace that nothing else can provide. I know Jesus loves me by the blessings I have enjoyed, even when I don’t really deserve them. Do you KNOW that Jesus LOVES you? Maybe it’s time to look at your life and your faith, time to dig deeper into the Bible and examine how much he LOVES us. What a great reminder at Christmas that God sent us his Son, a Savior who LOVES us. Sent to earth to be with us in the flesh, one of us! The beauty of his love is we don’t have to be perfect. We just need to look for and experience the ways he loves us and has loved us since the very first Christmas. Yes – JESUS LOVE ME (and you too) and knowing this makes me smile!    

Cindi McDonald, Elder