What Will You Do With Jesus?

*The Lord treasures people. The Lord treasures you. That’s the message of this song by Charles Weigle:

-I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus

-Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true;

-I would tell you how He changed my life completely,

-He did something that no other friend could do.

-All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me;

-All my heart was full of misery and woe;

-Jesus placed His strong and loving arms around me,

-And He led me in the way I ought to go.

-No one ever cared for me like Jesus;

-There’s no other friend so kind as He;

-No one else could take the sin and darkness from me.

-O how much He cared for me! (5)

*O how much He cares for you! Jesus went all the way to the cross for you. He loves us all. The Lord treasures people. And He wants us to treasure people too.

*James Moore tells about a man named George. George was a peacemaker with a big heart and wonderful sense of humor. Everyone loved George at church and he was respected at the hospital where he worked. The reason why so many people loved George was because he was always kind and respectful to everyone he met.

*George’s children clearly remember the days George spent in the hospital before his death. The administrator of the hospital paid him a visit. They spoke as though they were old friends. A few minutes later one of the janitors came to visit George. They too had a nice visit.

*When the janitor left, one of George’s children said to him, "Dad, did you realize that you treated the president of the hospital and the janitor just alike?" George smiled, chuckled and then said, "Let me ask you something: If the administrator left for two weeks and the janitor left for two weeks, which one do you think would be missed the most?"

*Then George called his children around his bed. "Let me show you something I carry in my pocket all the time," he told them, "even when I mow the lawn." George pulled out a pocket-sized cross and a marble with the golden rule on it. George said, "On the cross are written these words, ‘God Loves You,’ and on the marble are these words, ‘Do unto Others as You Would Have Them Do unto You.’ The cross reminds me of how deeply God loves me. And the marble reminds me of how deeply God wants me to love others.” (6)

*The Lord treasures people. And He wants us to treasure people too. Will you see people as Jesus see as people? Will you value life the way Jesus does? Will you treasure what the Lord treasures? Let your answer be yes!

4. But there is a fourth question in these verses: Will you trust Jesus to do what’s best for you?

*Vs. 13-15 remind us how worthy Jesus is of our trust. After Jesus answered the Pharisees:

13. Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand.’’ And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.

14. Then the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him.

15. But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there; and great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.

*The Lord healed them all! What an amazing miracle. And He can still heal today. Many of us have seen amazing, miraculous turn-arounds in people’s lives. We have seen people brought back from the point of death. However, the Lord is not going to heal every disease -- not in this world anyway. But we can trust in the Lord anyway. And we should -- whether He heals us or not. We must never give up on the Lord!