How Do I Tell You?

"Look Mom, He sees me. He sees me!"

The words echoed throughout the mall, from the upper level. . . filled with pure excitement and genuine joy! The Easter Bunny had waved at a girl no more than five and she could not contain her enthusiasm-- nor did she want to. The moment made my heart smile, but then I thought, "Why can't we be more like that with Jesus?"

He sees me! I bet many of you couldn't experience much happiness in that last statement before it was swallowed up with self-condemnation and you started beating yourself up because since He does see us . . . He sees it all. Our hidden sins, our hidden disobedience, the times we are UGLY!

Could you imagine how Zacchaeus must've felt (Luke 19)? Zacchaeus was short in stature. Have you ever felt short? Like you just didn't measure up or like you weren't good enough? I know I have. Sin often times puts us in a tree. That moment when we reflect on how we've once again messed up and missed the mark. That's our 'tree' moment and Jesus doesn't bark at us to stay in the tree! No, He says come down, so we can spend time together! See, we're never inadequate or not good enough in God's eyes. We always measure up. He is proud of YOU!

That's how much He loves us and that's what Grace does . . . it loves, it forgives, it restores.

Jesus not only KNEW how dirty he was, but He also knew of his doubt as far as Who He was as well. Still Jesus 'saw' him. He called him by name and said I'm coming to your house! Regardless of your political beliefs, if the President of the United States or your favorite athlete or movie star said they were coming to your house . . . you would flip out! Could you imagine how exciting that would be?!

This was Jesus . . . the Son of God and God in the flesh! That's who saw him, called him by name and said let's hang out. Consider who Zacchaeus was. He was a tax collector with a reputation so dirty and bad, it might make you feel better about how you perceive yourself and your failures. I know it does me. They were known for being swindlers, frauds, exploiters of the highest order. Yet, Jesus said come down out of that tree, so we can hang out. Wow.

Even though his motives may not have been pure when he climbed the tree to see Jesus, as he just wanted to see what this Messiah fuss was all about, Zacchaeus still climbed the tree. He still put forth the effort to find and see Jesus. Can we say the same in our daily lives?

As awesome as it was that day for Zacchaeus to see Jesus . . . it was equally amazing that Jesus saw Zacchaeus. Just like that Easter Bunny, He STILL SEES US! You are the apple of His eye, you are His child, you are His beloved! You are no longer an orphan. YOU are God's MOST favorite in the entire universe . . . no matter what you've done, no matter what you haven't done, no matter how disobedient you've been, trust me I know all about disobedience, you are loved and completely accepted!

Nothing can ever separate us from God's Love . . . it's a promise that is iron-clad and immune to our screw-ups! (Romans 8:38-39).

The same week, there in the mall, a little girl in our store told her Mom she wanted to give the Easter Bunny a big hug and tell him she loved him. How sweet is that?! Then she said.

"But I don't know how."

Once again, I thought of Jesus. Because that's how we feel a lot of times, isn't it? We want to tell Him we love Him, but just don't know how. What's amazing is there are so many ways we can tell Him we love Him. We can worship Him, read the Bible and pray . . . those are the obvious ones. But know how else we can tell Him we love Him-- through how we love others, through how we serve, through how we walk in humility, gratitude and kindness. Through how we elevate others over ourselves. Through obedience to the King.

We tell Jesus how much we love Him through how we love others and not just the ones who look the same as us. Race relations are just about as bad they've ever been in our country since the Civil Rights' era. It might not be as blatant and obvious, but just because it's covert, doesn't mean it's not happening. With white people, with black people, with Latino people, Asian people, Indian people. It's not limited and, sadly, not in short supply.

When we love we become a bridge instead of being a wall of division. We say, in that moment, God I love You and though this person may not have the same color of skin as I do, he or she is made in Your image. Makes you think, huh? Sometimes a person may not be too 'lovable' and that's precisely when we must remind ourselves they are Imago Dei (an image of God). That makes the lovable enough.

Yes, there are countless ways we can tell Him we love Him-- even in those honest moments where we ask, "How do I do it? I want to." The little girl didn't vocalize that she was not good enough, but I imagine that's what she was thinking. She was scared! It's not that she didn't know how. It's she wanted her gesture to be good enough! She wanted to make the Easter Bunny happy and for him to feel loved.

Some of the most powerful spiritual lessons I've learned are found in moments of simplicity, so I ask. Why can't we be more like those little girls? When is the last time you gave God a BIG hug?