Who Cares!

Have you noticed how people wear tee shirts with slogans or messages? Some are amusing but some are less so. The fashion is also spilling over to hats. I was on a train a couple of weeks ago when a young couple came on and sat in the seats opposite me. The young man was wearing a cap and on it were the words ‘Breaking News! I don’t care!’

I wondered if he really meant it and what the young woman thought of it. After a while he fell asleep and his head rested on her shoulder, so I guess he didn’t.

It got me thinking about the way we all want to be cared about. It is a basic human need to be valued and loved. Often we need reassurance from those closest to us that we are.

This reminded me of when our third grandchild was born. His name is Thurston. Our first grandchild is a girl named Hanna. She asked me a strange question. “Now that Thurston is born” she said, “Do you love me less?” Of course I assured her that I didn’t. Although she wouldn’t have put it in this way, she was really asking if the capacity to love is finite.

Jesus said “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son.” That was nearly 2000 years ago. The world population then is estimated to have been around 300 million. Today it is getting towards 8 billion. This is some 26 times the size! So the question might be “Does God love each person in the world less than He did in the time of Jesus?” The answer is that as God is infinite, so must His love capacity be also. Why do I believe that?

There was another man and on his head was, not a cap, but a crown of thorns and marks which said ‘Breaking News! I do care!’ I can say that throughout my nearly 88 years I have received that care, that love. Not because I deserve it but because that is how He is! “The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell!” and it is for us!

Ian Jepps