I believe our God sees our faith as precious even if we have faith as tiny as a mustard seed. God pays attention to our good deeds and also to our tiny faith. All of you who came here to listen and receive the message searching for the truth, must have this tiny faith in your heart, and God is happy for that.
“And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent,” John17: 3.
In my first lecture I mentioned that our life is futile after all. When we die all things will stop and be of no use, our wealth, fame and knowledge. Then what are the things so worthwhile or meaningful to us? Existentially speaking man’s life is really nothing but distress, hopelessness and depression, isn’t it?
After all the striving and struggles, what awaits us is death. And death makes everything to zero. That is why we are fundamentally lonely, depressed, and hopeless. It is no wonder that we are depressed. We see more depressed patients in civilized countries.
When we were poor we did not have enough time to be depressed. We had to work and study hard to get out of poverty someday. We did not have time to think about our hopelessness or futility of life. Since our country is considered a developed country now, and our living standard has gone up, we slowly begin to think more about these fundamental issues. Kierkegaard mentioned, the human being is fundamentally lonely, hollow and depressed.
Well, it is a foregone conclusion that life is empty and depressing when we consider death is waiting for us sooner or later. And that will be a very lonely death, which no one can share this moment with us. This fate of death came to man by sin and man’s nature itself is sinful. As long as man’s nature remains sinful, there is no way to get away from depression, hopelessness, loneliness and death.
But, now we heard there is a way to get out of this hopeless situation! And that is to believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God who died for us. This is the way out of the death trap! If you can find a ray of hope to be free from this trap, could there be any better news than that?
Today we read, “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God” John 17:3.
It says knowing the true God is eternal life. The joy, happiness, satisfaction, humbleness and all goodness comes in a package of eternal life. It is just like the Salem institution is contained within the town of Kwang-Chun, and the cities of Seoul, Pu-San, and Dae-Ku are within Korea.
What is the source of eternal life? It comes from knowing God. Yes, it is really knowing God. So many people in the world deny God’s existence. They ask if we have seen God. They believe that there is no God. Most Chinese and North Koreans do not believe in God. They are atheists. It is interesting to see many people who believe in God, but they have different opinions about God.
For instance, the tribe of Wui (回族) in China do not eat pig meat, Manchurians do not eat dog meat, Hindus in India do not eat cow meat. Why? It’s because these are considered sacred animals, some kind of god. Some people carve an image out of stone or wood, and pray to them posing them as their god. Is there really a God? If there is, where is He and who is He?
Is He in a form of animal or carved image? What is your opinion?
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3
According to this verse, eternal life, joy, happiness, satisfaction and humbleness is knowing God.
As you know, emperor Qin in China did not want to die. Why? He subjugated all of China, but he realized he was getting old and he would die sooner or later. So he selected 3000 virgin boys and girls and sent them out in pairs all over the world to find the elixir of longevity (a herb bringing eternal youth).
I heard that some of these young emissaries went to Korea on their continual search. If they have found it, do you think they would have gone back with it to the emperor? They’d rather have it for themselves and have everlasting life.
One Chinese man told me that when these boys and girls couldn’t find the elixir they decided to stay in Korea and became ancestors of the Koreans, knowing that the emperor would have killed them for failing to bring the elixir of long life back to him.
So he said, “The root of yours and mine are the same.” Then I replied, “I think so, too.” What I really meant was that we all have the same root from God. The Bible tells us that eternal life, joy, happiness and hope all come from knowing God. By all means it doesn’t come from finding an elixir of long life. Does the God we worship exist in the form of an animal like a dog, cow or statue carved out of wood or stone? Today we are going to take a journey discovering who He really is.
“Now the tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ ” Luke 15:10-2
In the very first lecture I mentioned that God came to earth in a human form. He spent time eating, talking with the poor, beggars and cripples, and mingled with them. Because of His association with this group of people, the upper class, well known, wealthy and well-educated people questioned Him “Are you truly a Son of God or an imposter?”
Why? Because in their own understanding, the Son of God mingling with the poor and the social outcasts was not acceptable.
For instance, could you imagine that the Governor of Choong-Chung province would come to visit Kwang-Chun and mingle with the local folks like us? If the American President came to visit Korea, would he mingle with the local citizens? Would he ever say that when I go to Korea I will specially visit Salem institution first because I heard there are many poor and sick people who are suffering with incurable diseases? Will he ever say this? No way.
However, the Son of God came to this earth, to mingle with the beggars, the sick and the homeless, to talk and eat with them. Many people thought this was nonsense. They concluded that He had to be a false Messiah.
Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” John 15:3-7
Jesus explained the parable to them; there was a shepherd who took care of 100 sheep. Every morning he fed them around the mountainside and in the evening he brought them back home. He put his cane across the gate and counted them one by one as they went in, 97, 98, 99 and he found one sheep was missing.
He thought he may have miscounted so this time he let them out of the pen and counted them one by one again, and the count was 99, so he tried one more time and the count was still only 99.
Why do you think the shepherd went back to search for the missing sheep? Why should he be concerned for one that is missing? And when he found the missing sheep he was so happy and joyful that he carried the sheep home on his back, called all his friends to come and celebrate. He went out to search for the missing sheep because he cares for every single one of them.
God lost a star called earth, a sinful planet. The other stars do not have death, affliction, sadness, and separation, only the sinful earth where we live has all kinds of problems such as greed, selfishness, sadness, struggles, and death. Did I mention to you that Jesus Christ came to the earth from Heaven? Yes, He did. Jesus is telling us that the educated and successful people do not have the problems in life’s struggles. It is the uneducated and the sick ones that have no means and ways to survive. If He was truly a loving and caring God, He should be spending more time with the less fortunate ones first to heal and comfort them. That is what he meant and that is the way it should be, right?
All through the ages many really do not know who God is. Many believe and say there is no God. To some, gods are in the form of carved images such as animals and figurines, to whom they will bow down and worship. They believe that these images will answer their requests. No matter how many times you may pay tribute to them, they would not even wink at you.
Even some Christians have serious misunderstandings about God. God is viewed as someone who sits on the high throne and searches our mistakes in a casual manner. He will bless us if we are nice, or condemn us if we are not. He will send lightning to strike us or throw us into hell if we are not listening to Him. Is this the kind of God we know and serve? No, that is absolutely not the case. Some even said in this train of thought that we are better than gods.
Let me illustrate by telling you this story of a family with five sons. This family had five children, all of them boys. Four were very successful in their careers. Then there was one son born crippled and he had a very difficult time. He needs a lot of attention and care. He finds himself to be a burden to others around him. If you were the parent of this crippled child would you ever say something like this? “Well, I have four other sons that are successful, and I never expect very much out of this crippled son anyway. Can we just ignore him?” Of course, not! No loving parents will say something like that to his or her crippled child, in fact they will pay more attention to his needs.
Some think that God rules this earth like a tyrant. If we do not follow His instructions He will destroy us and put us into misery. So we must please Him all the time by offering sacrificial foods, such as a pig’s head or a human’s as a peace offering. There is a Korean folklore about the Dragon king who needed to be pleased by offerings of virgin girls dropped into the In-Dang-Soo water.
If and when he was pleased, he would do something good to the one who offered the sacrifice. Unfortunately many people think still that is how God is. Our God is not like that. Christians’ God is a loving God. He came to this sinful, lonely, distressed, empty, and unfortunate planet, leaving His throne way beyond the starry sky, in a human form to serve and show us the way of salvation. Knowing and believing this loving God, will lead us to everlasting life.
Wouldn’t it be good a news to those who have been misguided or misinformed, individuals who felt that life was not worth living, to find out there is a loving and caring God, and that He is preparing a place for them and they can live their lives to fullness with hope of eternal happiness?
Let’s study the 2nd story:
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins (Drachma) and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. ” Luke 15:8-10
A Drachma is a coin used in Judea about 2000 years ago. It is customary that a mother will give 10 silver coins (Drachma) as a wedding gift to her daughter. The mother then tells the girl that she must treasure it and only spend it frugally, and hand it to her daughter when she plans to get married. But she lost one Drachma which is very valuable to her. Will she search for it? Of course she will. I am sure she must have swept all over her rooms to look for it, and when she found it she was overjoyed.
The third story is very interesting:
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!’ ” Luke 15:11-17
This rich man had two sons, the older one was obedient and a good son. He was not a problem to his dad. The younger always wanted his way and did not show interest in the household duties. The younger son, one day, approached his dad and said, “Father what will you do with all your possessions?”
“I am thinking of dividing the inheritance between you and your brother,” Father replied.
“I want my portion of the inheritance now,” the younger man insisted.
This ungrateful son’s request for his portion of the inheritance was very inconsiderate. His father was still healthy and strong. How dare he make such a request? If I was his father I would have kicked him out of the house, and I would never see him again.
The story continues to say that this father treated his son differently from how I would do. He was nice and kind. He tried to plead with him. He asked his son, “Why is it that you want your portion of inheritance now?”
The younger son answered, “I am sick and tired of this country life. I want to venture into a big city and start a business. I have made up my mind, so please don’t try to make me change, dad.”
The father realized he couldn’t dissuade him, so he gave the younger son his portion of the inheritance. He boasted to his family that he would only return home when he became rich and famous. He then took off to a faraway land. This young man’s lifestyle in the fast lane did not last very long. He spent all his inheritance in drinking, gambling, womanizing, and was penniless in a short while. Yes, that was how he wasted his life and money. Then there was a famine in that country. He tried hard to get a job, but there were none. Being homeless and starved, sitting along the roadside, a farmer passed by him and took pity on him. “Young man, you look so pale, why are you sitting there?” he asked. “No one will give me a job and I have not eaten for two days” the young man replied.
“Would you follow me to my house, and take care of my pigs?”, the farmer said to him. “If you promise to feed me, I will do any thing for you” young man answered.
Have you ever raised pigs on a farm? The pig’s dung smells so strong you can smell it from a distance. You can use the pig’s dung as a fertilizer, but you must be very careful. Without fermenting it, it could burn your garden and kill plants.
I used to live in a town near ‘Young Shin Won’ which was an isolation village to house leprosy patients. Those patients raised chickens and pigs to support themselves. As you get closer to the village you could smell the pig pens. The stench was so strong that your nose became numb in a short time.
I wonder if you would be willing to visit these people to share the gospel in spite of the stench? We are supposed to be followers of Jesus who gave up so much to save us. It would be a shame if we don’t follow His example by not visiting such places. To be honest with you, we didn’t want to go there. There was another reason why we didn’t want to go there. They’d usually serve us hard boiled eggs. I wish they would just give us eggs so we can peel the shell ourselves, but they’d peel them with their ugly fingers and give them to us to see whether we would eat the egg or not. Some of the patients had lost fingers and knuckles.
How would you react? Would you eat it? If we refused to eat it they’ll be offended. They’d feel mistreated. Their attitude will show up something like this; “You call yourselves believers and followers of Jesus Christ?” We’d have just lost their trust in us.
To be polite, we ate the peeled hard boiled eggs, in the hope of gaining trust and a way of communication to share the gospel with them. This is the same kind of smelly place this once rich young man was working. He was hungry and he even envied the pigs that could eat as much as they wanted.
Let me continue the story. This ungrateful young man recalled that in his father’s house there were many servants who had plenty of food to eat and were always well treated. He realized that he was wasting his life in this dirty place and would die soon. Do you think it was going to be an easy decision for him to return home after having bragged to his family that he would come home only when he had become successful and wealthy? Let us read the story in the Bible, and see what he did.
“I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men. So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.
For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” John 15:8-24
He made a decision to get up and headed for home to see his father and family. He wanted them to take him in not as part of the family, but as a hired hand. He travelled a long distance and he was hungry and tired when he arrived home.
This young man arrived at the village, but did not want to enter his house until sunset. He was too ashamed to let the villagers know that he had returned hungry and poor. His father had been looking toward the hills daily waiting for his son and knowing that he would come home soon. Then one day from a distance the father saw him and recognized his son. He ran towards him and greeted him with open arms and said, “I am so happy and glad to see you, I have been waiting for you all this time.”
The young man dropped himself to the ground on his knees and said, “I am no longer worthy to be your son, make me like one of your hired men….” But before he could finish his sentence his father embraced him and said, “No, whether you are stripped or crippled, it doesn’t matter, you are still my son.” His father was so happy and he called his servants and said, “Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.” Why? Because his son had come back. Why do you think Jesus the Son of God told us this story?
The story was told to illustrate the love of God in Heaven, searching for us to come home, where everlasting happiness, joy, and bliss abound.
The God we worship is neither an idol of a cow nor a dog figure. He is not a carved statue which cannot perform anything no matter how many times you bow down to it to beg and plead.
He is a loving God, like the father in the story, who wants to celebrate and have a big feast with the people in his hometown when his wayward son comes back destitute even as a beggar. Knowing this kind of God is to have everlasting life.
Many people have multitudes of excuses for not coming to church. Some people will say, “I haven’t quit smoking”, or “I haven’t quit drinking” or “when my situation gets better, then I will attend church.”
But look at the prodigal son’s story. Did he clean himself up first before he came back home? No, he came home as a dirty little pig, yet his father accepted him. All we have to do is to come back to Him just as we are and He will accept us with open arms.
Yes, our God is waiting to come running forward, receive and accept us. As you read these three different parables, you will notice three different types of lost people. The parables were of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.
These three stories have one thing in common. They were lost, but now they are found. Usually a story was told once and we should understand. Why do you think Jesus told the same story in three different ways? These parables represented three types of lost people in this world.
How about the lost sheep? We hear sheep are known to be the dumbest animals. Other animals such as cows, dogs, horses or goats can find their way home even if they were lost. Once I travelled in Mongolia. They were raising sheep on the plain; and these sheep needed a shepherd to guide them. The sheep and goats have quite different characters. (The people in Mongolia call the goat a mountain sheep and the sheep as a sheep). The goats lift their head straight and go forward, but the sheep put their head down and just follow the other sheep’s tail to move forward.
During the daytime these sheep will feed on the plain freely, but when the evening comes, it is time to go home and follow the shepherd. If one sheep is not paying attention to the shepherd’s call, the inattentive sheep will go astray. The flocks followed the shepherd home, but this lonely sheep realized that he was left all alone. All he could do was cry, hoping for the shepherd to hear and come to take him home.
There are many people in this world that are like the lost sheep. They have troubles and sadness, which no one can understand.
There are many unfortunate people in all corners of the world. Some were born crippled, suffering from incurable diseases, betrayed, failed in their business, they are crying all alone helpless without having any solutions. Could we be the shepherd to deliver this wonderful message?
People need to listen to words of comfort. We as Christians need to be more compassionate and give them a listening ear. Give them words of encouragement and a message of hope that Jesus is coming back soon and all this misery and hardship will be gone forever.
In the province of Jun-Nam in Korea there is an island called Am-Tae. Around 30-40 years ago people who lived on this island were very poor. About 35 years ago in the month of May an evangelistic team visited Am-Tae island. They saw only a few small houses with thatched roofs. All of these homes were vacant during the daytime because all the villagers went to the field to work.
Evangelistic team members were knocking on the doors of these homes and called loudly several times, “Is there any one here?” But there was no answer. So they decided to turn around to visit other places. Just as they were about to leave, a little girl opened the door to look at who had been yelling. As they approached her they noticed she was paralyzed from the waist down and had a hunched back like she had a pillow on her back. As they opened the door there was a strong stench of urine and feces, so they could tell that there was no one at home to take care of her. Her mother left some food for her in her room and she went to work. She
had to feed herself with whatever food was available near her until her family returned from work. No one was around to assist her to use the toilet facility.
“How old are you young lady?” asked the team member.
“….” No answer.
“Where are your parents?” asked the team member.
“….” No answer.
The team members encouraged her to come to church and learn promises from the Bible. “When you go to Heaven, you can leap and play just like other children. You can learn more about Heaven if you go to the church in town. They’d welcome you.”
The evangelistic team members told her the stories and left.
This was the very first time this young paralyzed girl heard such a thing. “I can play and jump? I can hop around? God loves me? Right now even my own mother doesn’t care for me. If I go to church they will welcome me?” She thought to herself. She wished she could visit that church. This 12 year old girl could hardly wait for Saturday to come. Saturday came and when her parents had all gone to work, she crawled out of her room to the front door.
There she saw an elderly man passing by her house with a cow wagon. He asked her “Why are you sitting there?”
“Sir, I want to go to church in town. Would you take me there?” she pleaded. The elderly man gave her a ride on the wagon to town and dropped her off at the church. All the church members were so happy to see her and welcomed with warm hearts. She thought that she had the most wonderful moment in her entire life at the church. The pastor’s sermon was very inspiring to her and after church service she joined their potluck. The members gave her some food to take home, and invited her to come back again the next Saturday. Since that first visit to the church, this little girl kept coming back every Saturday whether it rained or snowed.
She was so determined, and her physical challenges could not stop her from coming. Sometimes she would crawl all the way to the church.
Praise the Lord. Later she learned how to sew. “If I cannot move my legs, I can use my hands to sew” she thought.
When she reached 20 years of age, she opened an alteration shop to support herself and became independent. She had another special talent. When she read the Bible her heart got inspired by the Words, she immediately wrote them into a poem. She shared those poems and has inspired many people’s hearts. I had the chance to read some of her poetry and it was excellent. Later on she published a book entitled “The Ever Present God is So close To Me.” (내 곁에 늘 계신 하나님).
She married a healthy young man and she gave testimonies as she traveled around in a wheel chair. Her name is Ham, Jung Sook. She was once a leader of the Am-Tae company (a small group of members before the church was formed). She was a very good preacher. I think her daughter was about 25 years old when I taught her at our Country Life Education center. While her daughter was studying in our school I had an opportunity to meet and talk with her, and she told me her story herself.
If God did not send someone to visit her at that particular moment, what could have happened to her? She may have lived in a small room just like an animal. She might have been dead in her early 20s or even earlier. Who changed her destiny? Who made her blossom like a beautiful flower? Could that be her parent, money or her country? No, only God can do such a thing.
There must be a lot of people like the lost coins. Then who are these people? Let’s pretend that we are the lost coins in a room.
When a sheep was lost at least he knew that he was lost and all alone in the darkness. You see, sheep could cry for help. But the coin won’t be able to make any noise. That is the reason why lost coins are hard to find. So, who are the people like lost coins? Actually most of the people in this world belong to this category. Some may think, “Why do we bother to think of being lost? Isn’t that depressing and useless?”
“Don’t worry, be happy” is the attitude of most people. Others would say, “Work hard, make a good amount of money, once in a while drink with friends, go to karaoke and sing your hearts out, raise kids well and eventually die, and that’s all.”
They do not bother to think about the value of their lives, even once in their lifetime. These people are like the lost coin, and are very difficult to find.
We need to reach out and share the good news to these people. Nine out of ten people may say, “Life is too busy and challenging…where will we find the time to think about it?” Most people may not listen to us, but even just one out of ten may show some interest.
“As I listened to you I realized our life is empty, but what is the alternative?” When they ask this kind of question we will find the opportunity to share the good news of the Bible. Some may conclude and say, “Yes, your message sounds very reasonable.” In order to find such people we need to search diligently as we would search for the lost coin.
Number three: We do not need to search for someone in this group. Who are these people? They used to be church members. But they did not like something about going to church. They did not like to be told not to drink or smoke, or not to consume unclean meat like pork as taught by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Instead of going to church, watching television was more relaxing and fun. You see, many people leave the church because of their taste and pleasure. They do not want to be tied down to rules and restrictions. “I want to live my life the way I want to. It’s my life to enjoy. The church does not give me satisfaction.” Was there much fun out there after they left the church?
Many of you already know the answer. Perhaps you have already achieved lots of things in life. You may have accumulated enough wealth, received higher education, and have been well informed about world affairs by the newspapers and the television, and travelled around the world. But what is left in the end after all?
Getting old, being tired, and feelings of emptiness are what is left. Seemingly successful people can end up with broken toys and shattered dreams. They begin to ponder about the emptiness of life.
They would like to find the true meaning of life through the church they once were associated with. So this group of people we do not need to go after. Which of these three groups do you belong to? I challenge you to search your heart to figure it out.
Let me read one more Bible verse before I finish my lecture. Isaiah chapter 44. Our God is not a dog or a cow, nor carved images. He is not someone who made hell to throw us in if we are bad. He is the loving God who came to seek and save all these three groups of people. Knowing and believing the God of love is our comfort, our hope. Heaven will be our home of happiness and peace!
“I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 44:22
The word swept away means, not only has God forgotten, but He erased from His memory. And the word redeem means, He paid all our debt for us.
If we read Isaiah 44:22 once more we can hear God speaking,
“I have totally erased your iniquity from my memory, please return to me, for I have paid off all of your debts for you.”
Can you imagine the father telling his younger son as he was leaving, “Alright, you bastard, do whatever you want, but I know you won’t make it. You don’t know how rough it is out there.” No, he did not say it that way. If he was that bitter, he could not have been so happy to see him return home. He was deeply worried about the runaway son’s troubles he would face every day. Our God likewise invites us to come home.
I want to tell you a story that happened about 30 years ago in America. There was a bus line from Washington DC to Miami, Florida which takes about 30 hours to travel. Nine college students were on that bus. They were going to spend their vacation on the beach.
Since it was a long journey, many people got on and off the bus. But there was a young man who seemed to be in his late 30s, who sat in the very front seat. He didn’t talk to anyone and hung his head down. Once in a while he was staring outside the window.
Among these nine bored students one student suggested to figure out why that young man was staring out the window and what the trouble was. So each student contributed a dollar and
whoever guessed correctly would get all the money.
One of them approached him and asked, “Excuse me sir, we noticed that you’re not only looking out the window, but you also put your head down. Would you share with us what seems to be troubling you?”
He lifted his head up, looked at him and said, “In fact I was in prison for four years, and just released from jail four days ago. Now I am going home, but before I got released I sent a letter to my wife.” In that letter I wrote, “Honey, I have not been a good husband at all ever since we got married.”
He continued his story, “I was in jail for four years because of alcohol, it was a big mistake. Now I am released and going home, but I wanted to know if my wife was still waiting for me. If she would welcome me, I asked her to hang a yellow handkerchief on the Zelkova tree at the entrance of the village. If she does not want to receive me then she doesn’t have to hang the yellow handkerchief. I would understand that and pass by our home.”
Everybody on the bus heard the story and was excited about the handkerchief. They all started looking out the window for the yellow handkerchief on the tree. As the bus approached the village this man couldn’t even hold his head up to look for the yellow handkerchief. Finally the bus came to that village, and people started shouting, “Look, look!” Then the man lifted his head and, he saw not only 20 or 30, but more than 100 yellow handkerchiefs covered the whole tree. Tears were flowing down his cheeks.
Ladies and gentleman, why do you think Jesus the Son of God was crucified on the cross? He was worried that we might not notice Him. He didn’t want us to doubt His love. So He was crucified on the cross way up high for us so we could see Him easily. “I have died for you” and He showed His love clearly to us. Could we understand why this man’s wife tied so many yellow handkerchiefs instead of just one? She was afraid that he might miss one yellow handkerchief and pass by her. Ladies and gentlemen! Why do we doubt Jesus’ love for us? We saw He was crucified on the cross and yet why do we doubt God’s love? He is our God. Our God is not a carved image or dumb animal like a cow, or a dog. Let us accept Him and acknowledge God’s love for us, knowing this kind of a God is eternal life and happiness. I know you will have a blessed and hopeful life as you walk with such a God.
