In my line of work I come into contact with a wide variety of people. I talk with murders, rapists, drug addicts, drug dealers, child abusers, thieves you name the crime I have talked with someone who has committed it. I am surrounded by men like this on a daily basis.Sometimes I read their crime versions and wonder to myself how and why does Jesus love people who do such horrible things? I struggled with these thoughts for some time when I first went to work for the prison system. But after taking the time to read my bible it didn’t take long for me to see why he loves them.
During my studies I realized that Jesus loves us because he created us. He knows us better than anyone. It is like the families of the men who committed these crimes no matter what they are there for them. Especially parents. On any given Saturday or Sunday during visit a majority of the visitors are parents. It does not matter the crime. There are men who have killed people and others who have done horrible things to children but yet when we as society feel they should be left for dead mom and dad are almost always there. They greet with a hug and a kiss and spend the next hour and forty-five minutes discussing life and their future. Jesus has this same kind of love for us. He may not agree or like the things we do or have done but we are still HIS.
A prime example of this kind of love for people is in the book of John Chapter 4. This is one of my favorite stories in the bible. Mainly because it reminds me that no matter what I have done or what I am doing Jesus still loves me. This is the story of the women at the well. Jesus was on a journey back to Galilee and had to go through Samaria. While going through Samaria Jesus stopped in a town called Sychar. Jesus had become tired from traveling and stopped to rest at a well. While Jesus was sitting there a woman approached the well to fetch water. But the odd thing about this was the woman came at noon. Women usually gathered water in the morning and evening. This woman was obviously trying to stay clear of the other women in town who knew her reputation. When she went to draw water Jesus asked “Will you give me a drink”? She then said to him”How can you ask me for a drink”? She asked this because she knew he was a Jew and Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans. By all rights Jesus should not have been talking with this woman. She had several things against her. First off she was a Samaritan (a half breed Jew) hated by because of her mixed race. Second she was living in sin. Jesus knew that she had 5 husbands and that the one she was with now was not her husband. And third they were in a public place. No respectable Jewish man would be talking with a woman under such circumstances. But Jesus did. Why? Because his love is for every person no matter race, social status, past sins, crimes it doesn’t matter. Jesus illustrated to her that his love has no boundaries. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Why? Simply because he loves us.
The most known verse in the bible is John 3:16 “for God so loved the world..”. The world is all of us. To quote one of my favorite books “Jesus Loves You This I Know” it says this “God loves and accepts people where they are, not where we think we should be”. How great is that? The love of God meets us where we are at! It could be at home, in the office, jail cell, on the streets and even church. We dont have to wait for it, we just have to accept it.
In short, no matter who you are or what you have done or what you might do tomorrow remember JESUS LOVES YOU!
Steve Oh
LoveJesus.LovePeople