"Because I Love Them."

Can you recall the joyous memories of singing, laughing, doing crafts, and making new friends at Vacation Bible School during your childhood? For those who participated, you likely found it to be a meaningful and enjoyable experience that positively impacted your life. When I attended, I learned how to get excited about being in church and learning about God, and I always looked forward to the summertime because of it. My last year as a VBS student was the summer of 2023 - I was 17. I told myself that as soon as I turned 18, it would be my turn to start helping with the littles, and this year, that is exactly what I did. I must admit that the first couple of days felt odd as I was in a place where I felt I previously had a lifetime to get to - I thought I would have more time to be a kid. But I didn't. Before I even had time to blink, I was sitting in the little babies' class and helping them sing. Everyone was referring to me as a "teacher" that week and talking to me as if they truly viewed me as a young adult now. However, I am not complaining. I am just old enough to appreciate this different level of

respect but also young enough to realize that I am still not as mature as a truly respectable young adult needs to be. I am trying my best, but I still have some work and growth to accomplish.

Now, as most of you know, children can become restless. It sometimes takes quite a bit to hold a little one's attention. They like to spend a few moments on one thing, and then they are on to the next thing that looks remotely fun or interesting. On top of that, most kids like to run around, horseplay, and yell when they are intrigued with any excitement. It is almost as if they feed off of one another's sporadic energy. That is why, although this year's week of bible school absolutely filled my heart with so much warmth, there were still those moments when I found myself hoping that all of the kids would sit down and behave without one of the teachers having to be stern with them. And every time I felt this way, it would hit me. It is so important to have grace and patience with these children because, if you haven't noticed, God probably feels that way about every single one of us most days of our lives. How many times do you think He's looked down at us from heaven and shaken His head in disappointment but helped us pick up our slack anyway? How many times is He stern with us because we don't listen to Him the first time? There are also so many instances when He doesn't let us do whatever it is we want to do because it may result in danger. And He does all of this because He loves us.

I started this entry with the topic of bible school here today because of what happened that Thursday night after we dismissed. I found myself to be quite tired with it being towards the end of the week. I am aware that I am new to this authoritative teacher thing, and I was wondering how in the world I could help deal with the rowdy, energetic kids better the next day than I had previously. My job this past week was to help our song leader/piano player with the music and help bring the program to life. Each night before I left, she would tell me I was doing a good job dealing with the kids and that she was proud of me. However, some part of me still felt as if I was falling incredibly short in my mission. You see, helping with bible school this year was more to me than just volunteer work. Seeing the kids come to life and get excited over the word of God and be excited to be in church was such a blessing to witness. I feel that it is important to acknowledge the upcoming generation. Today's young people are our world's future; we must nurture them in the way that they should live and remind them of their priorities in life - the top priority being their relationship with God. Once that is healthy, everything else in this life naturally falls into place. And it is our place to be examples of that by finding joy in doing whatever is possible to serve our Lord.

Some people say that I tend to care too much about certain things. I must admit that for this topic, that is probably true. As I mentioned earlier, I was concerned with whether I was truly doing a good job or not. I kept thinking of alternate ways to respond to certain things and different things I could have said that would grab their attention better. I had also been trying to wrack my brain about what I could do to better persuade them to listen to what they were told. I was also worried about my voice going out before the Sunday Bible School Program from all of the singing because some of those kids were depending on me to know my part in case they forgot theirs. As you can probably tell, I was full of worries and thoughts, as we only had one more night left to get everything right. I remember that Thursday night, I met one of the Sunday School teachers of one of the younger classes in the foyer as I was leaving and I stopped to hug her. With a smile, I jokingly said, "Girl, I don't know how you do it." and we exchanged a small laugh before she confidently said, "Because I love them." Without another word, I smiled at her and left.

Because she loves them.

I expected her to say something else. Maybe something like, "I don't know either" or even nothing at all; but she didn't. This was a slap in my face from the All-Mighty Himself. Of course, not in a bad way, but in a way that grabbed my attention. It made me think: How many times have we been disobedient to the word of God? How many times have we turned from God's face when He instructs us to do something? How many times are we too selfish for our own good? Too many to count, correct? Yet, how many times has He forgiven us and allowed us second, third, fourth, and even fifth chances? That's right - too many to count.

But wait, this isn't the whole story. You won't believe the timing of the next event. The next morning (Friday), I was just about to get in the shower and get ready for the rest of my day and I was watching Instagram reels. A young, famous Christian influencer and street minister came across my feed - you may have heard of him; his name is Bryce Crawford. He was speaking to someone in a pride rally about what love was. You may see many people approach events like that and the first thing out of their mouths is, "Jesus loves you". The second you mention Jesus' name, it seems as if most people won't listen to a thing you say after. But instead of doing that, Bryce says, "Have you heard the good news?" The person he is speaking with goes on to tell him no and then he says, "This is what love is." He says that it is love when one lays down their life for another. He used an analogy that if he had pushed the person out from in front of an oncoming vehicle, got hit instead, and passed away because of this, it would have been an act of love. The person agreed that they would have believed the stranger would have died out of love for him if that had happened. Now who does that remind you of?

Bryce goes on to tell him of Jesus, who did that for him on the cross. He reiterated that love is laying your life down for someone and that was what Jesus did for all of us. Jesus loves us with a sacrificial love. He laid down His life so that sin no longer had the domain to control us and hold us hostage. Remember all of those times that you have fallen short and acted in a state of disobedience? Those were the very instances that Jesus died for. The truth of the matter is that we put Him on that cross. We caused His suffering - our sin caused His suffering. 1 Peter 2:24 says,

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."

This verse perfectly represents the weight of the burden that Jesus had to carry within His heart. I've heard multiple times that Jesus had to "carry the burden(s) of the world", but it never seems to sound as intense as it actually was. Take a moment to imagine what it would be like to carry every single burden and sin of this world - to truly hold every single person's eternity in your hands. Imagine their entire life and afterlife depending on you. You have a lot of burdens yourself as it is, so take those burdens and the sins that you struggle with, and multiply them by the amount of people on this earth. I don't know about you, but I'm not sure if I would want to live a life of struggle and die a gruesome death just to make sure everyone else got to enter the gates of heaven. I would most likely let everyone fend for themselves because that is what my flesh would want to do. But, Jesus - He chose that burden. The man who could have taken himself off of the cross with a single word, stayed, suffered, and endured because he loved us way too much to have done any differently. Sometimes I like to imagine Satan talking to Jesus in awe of how or why he would do such a thing. We all know the devil has no idea what that kind of sacrifice would feel like. I like to believe that if he was standing in front of Jesus, he would look at Jesus and say, "I don't know how you did it." And I imagine Jesus would cast a sympathetic gaze towards him before simply replying, "Because I love them."

Prayer:

"Dear Lord, Thank you for all that you have done, do, and will do for me. Thank you for sending your loving son to die so that I may have a chance to truly live. I am forever grateful, and I just pray that you help to continue to encourage me so that I may prove that love through my actions of living for and serving you. I love you so much, God. I pray that the person reading this will be blessed in many ways throughout their life and that if they have the opportunity to grow their faith in you Lord, that they take it. Give me and my dear friend the strength and discipline to grow our relationship and prayer life with you. Help us to always keep in mind that you have always been there and will forever be there for us. Help us to feel your never-ending, sacrificial love. Lord, thank you for loving me, thank you for going to battle for me, and thank you for being you.

In Jesus' Name, I pray,

Amen."

Reflection:

• Do I know where I am going when I die? Do I truly understand the importance of what Christ did for me on the cross?

• Are my actions showing my love for God? If not, what can I do differently?

• Am I showing myself and others the same kind of Grace that God shows me?

Remember that you are never too far gone to return to Christ. He loves you way too much to allow you to stay distant. He is always seeking you, never forget that!! I am always one email away if you would like someone to talk to about something you may be struggling with. You are never alone here!