Yes, Jesus Loves You and Me!

The story is told of a retired preacher who had attained the ripe old age of 92. The church he was a member of asked him to preach one Sunday morning. Some of the members wondered why the leadership had even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at his age.

After a warm welcome and introduction, the old preacher rose from his seat and walked ever so slowly, with great effort and a sliding gait, to the podium. Without a note or written paper of any kind, he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly, began to speak.

"When I was asked to come here today and speak to you, your preacher asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson I ever learned in my 60 odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days, and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials  — the one thing that I could always rely on when tears, heartbreak, pain, fear and sorrow paralyzed me  — yes, the only thing that comforted me was this verse in this old well-known hymn: 

Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so,
Little ones to Him belong,
They are weak but He is strong
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so" (see lyrics). 

When he finished his speaking, the audience was quiet — so quiet in fact, they could hear his footsteps as he slowly shuffled back to his seat. They would never forget the impact the old preacher had on them as he read the above beloved verse of the old hymn written by William B. Bradbury and Anna B. Warner.

Beloved, when we are undergoing severe trials and tribulations in this life, let us remember the above encouraging words from this old hymn and be comforted, knowing that Jesus indeed loves you and me, for the Bible tells us so (Romans 5:1-10).

 —Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets