He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.’” Matthew 9:10-12 (NIV) 

Do you remember picking a wildflower and pulling off the petals one by one saying, “He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me” until all the petals were gone? Then whatever words landed on the last petal was the Gods-honest truth about whatever boy was in your mind at the time. This did NOT set well with some of my girlfriends, because they would end up sneezing for days after this encounter!

I don’t know how it is everywhere else in the country, but in Louisiana, it’s pollen season. Sneezing, watery eyes, coughing, congestion and lots of tissues! Some people are prone to it while others are not. My daughter, Mia, has never experienced allergies before until this year—this past week, actually. Finally, after two days of my thinking that she would just get past what I believed to be a simple cold, I took her to the doctor, who diagnosed her immediately with a sinus infection and put her on steroids and an antibiotic. Now, a few days later, she has seen improvement and is able to “get my tastebuds back”, as she said.

Why just now was she more susceptible to the pollen? Maybe because she was exposed more heavily at one point. Maybe because she is growing and her body has changed. Maybe it’s just a one-time occurrence. I’m definitely hoping for the latter, but honestly, I don’t have an answer. With everything she has been through physically in her lifetime, allergies are the least of our worries. Maybe that’s why it took me two days to take her to the doctor.

Isn’t that the way we are sometimes with our own “simple” problems? Oh, I can handle this. It’s not that bad. Surely it will just get better on its own. So, we decide to put off taking accurate and purposeful steps to better ourselves, our children, our spouse, our work environment, our relationships because, well, we just aren’t sure how to do it on our own. Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was a handbook that would tell us how to do these things? There is! When was the last time you picked up your Bible and searched the scriptures for some answers to your dilemmas? Don’t know where to begin? Try the book of John. You can learn about the Savior of the universe and who He is right from the words of one of his closest friends on earth. How did Jesus handle the problem of being gossiped about? How did he interact with the people who accepted him? How did he treat the ones who hated him? How did he show love to little children? What acts of kindness did he give to someone who was poor? The stories go on and on. And if you want more, check out Matthew, Mark and Luke. These men walked with him every single day for three years, watched him die, be raised to life again and then walked with him for 40 more days until he ascended into the sky right in front of their eyes! They knew this man, God, better than any other humans. They spent many meals together talking to Jesus about their problems.

Get to know Jesus.

Savior of the world.

The Great Physician.

Redeemer.

Healer.

I Am.

Friend.

Brother.

Comforter.

Magician.

Creator.

Son.

Counselor.

Can you list more? What is Jesus to you?

He wants to be your personal everything. He wants you to run to him first about every single thing, even your smallest of problems.

And you’ll never have to hope you land on the “he loves me” petal each spring, because he is…

Faithful.

Have a wonderful week!