As he finished helping our nearly 2 year old son get ready for bed, my husband glanced at me. “You can turn the light off now.”
“Okay,” I stepped into the hallway.
“No, me!” A little voice piped up.
I halted, my hand raised to flip the switch.
My son hurried after me, still saying, “No, me! No, me!”
“Okay, you can turn the light off, then go straight back to Daddy.”
Once he’d turned the light off, my son followed my instructions to go back to Daddy.
A couple of minutes later, with both kids in their beds, my husband and I settled down in their dimly lit room for the final steps of our bedtime routine.
I started us off on the hymn we’ve been enjoying recently.
“Jesus loves even me.”
“I am so glad that our Father in heaven
Tells of His love in the Book He has given;
Wonderful things in the Bible I see,
This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me.”
“I am so glad that Jesus loves me, …”
My son’s voice piped up, “No, me!”
We continued singing despite his insistent interruption.
“Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me.”
“No, me!”
“I am so glad that Jesus loves me.
Jesus loves even me.”
When we finished the song, I turned to my son. “You’re right that Jesus loves you. He loves Mommy and Daddy and your sister too.”
How much of this explanation he understood was hard to tell, but he calmed and waited for the next part of our bedtime routine.
Why do I bring this up? Because it got me thinking.
As someone who has sung songs about God’s love and care for years, do I still take them to heart?
Do I really believe that Jesus loves me?
When I sing “Jesus loves me,” do I pause to reflect that, yes, Jesus really does love me personally, not just generically?
Do I insert my name in place of “me”? Jesus loves S. J. Little?
Sometimes the words are so familiar that I forget to reflect on their meaning. I forget to marvel at the mystery that Jesus really does love me, right now, today, just as I am.
Now, let’s be clear, my son’s words were not all helpful.
It is not “no, me.” Rather, I ought to say, “and me,” or, as the hymn says, “even me.”
When I truly grasp that Jesus loves even me, my right response is to show someone else that Jesus loves even them.
Indeed, God’s love is for everyone. As John 3:16 puts it:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” NIV
That’s a lot of love!
Today, as I take a moment to reflect on the truth that Jesus loves even me, may I respond by seeking to share that immeasurable love with someone else, because Jesus loves them too.