Our Daily Bread: The Promise of EasterEgzanp

Jesus' Love For All

It was a bit unusual, but three times in one day I heard the same song. In the early afternoon, I visited a home for the elderly. As part of her prayer at the end of our time together, Willie, one of the residents, said, “Sing with me, ‘Jesus Loves Me.’ ” In the evening, I attended a gathering with young people who sang it while pounding out the beat with their hands and feet.

Later that evening, I received a text message on my phone with an audio recording of my 2 1/2-year-old grandniece with a sweet little voice, singing, “I am weak, but He is strong.” People in their nineties, teenagers, and a toddler all sang that song that day. After hearing that simple song three times, I began to think the Lord might be telling me something.

Actually, He gave us all this message long ago: “I love you.” We read in John 19 that He allowed people to put a crown of thorns on His head, mock Him, strike Him, strip Him, and crucify Him (vv.1-6). He had the power to stop them, but He said very little (v.11). He did it all for love’s sake to pay for our sins and to rescue us from punishment. How much does God love us?

Jesus spread out His arms and was nailed to the cross. He died for us, then rose again. That’s a precious fact for young and old.

—Anne Cetas

The truest measure of God’s love is that He loves without measure! —Bernard of Clairvaux