To express her sadness, Allie, a young girl, wrote on a piece of wood and set it in a park: “To be honest, I’m sad. Nobody ever wants to hang out with me, and I have lost the only person that listens. I cry every day.”
When someone found that note, she brought chalk to the park and asked people to write their thoughts to Allie. Dozens of words of support were left by students from a nearby school: “We love you.” “God loves you.” “You are beloved.” The school principal said, “This is one little way that we can reach out and maybe help fill [her void]. She represents all of us because at some point in time we have all or will all experience sadness and suffering.”
The phrase “You are beloved” reminds me of a beautiful blessing by Moses to the Israelite tribe of Benjamin just before he died: “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him” (Deuteronomy 33:12). Moses had been a strong leader for God, defeating enemy nations, receiving the Ten Commandments and challenging the people to follow God. He left them with God’s view of them. The word beloved can be used of us as well, for Jesus said, “God so loved the world that He gave [us] his one and only Son” (John 3:16).
As God helps us to rest securely in the truth that every believer in Jesus is “beloved”, we can reach out to love others as Allie’s new friends did.
By Anne Cetas
REFLECT & PRAY
How are you learning to rest securely in God’s love? How will you share that love with others?
May I be confident in Your love for me, dear God, and spread Your love to those around me.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The “blessing scene” in Deuteronomy 33 is reminiscent of Genesis 49 where Jacob, on the threshold of his death, assembled his sons to bless them: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come” (v. 1). Verse 28 concludes: “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.” What Jesus did is similar to these Old Testament blessings. Prior to His crucifixion and after His resurrection, Christ’s words and actions indelibly marked His chosen followers. Luke’s gospel closes with this scene: “When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven” (24:50-51).
Arthur Jackson
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