Encouragement

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I have a teddy bear, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Perhaps it's a little unusual for a 26-year-old to be so forthright with this kind of admission, but it's already well-known that I'm very much a child at heart.

The thing that may surprise you is that my teddy bear has taught me a few things about God.

I originally bought the thing because I was speaking at a youth retreat near McKinney, Texas. The bear was an object lesson. Did you, dear reader, own a teddy bear, security blanket, favorite doll, or other cherished possession when you were younger? Think about it for a minute. Bring to mind some memory you've got of holding this toy, talking to it as if it could hear you, hugging it close when thunder boomed outside, not being able to go to bed unless it was on the pillow next to you. You loved that toy, didn't you, in the simple and innocent way that a five-year-old loves things? You knew what it meant to want that toy near you, to crave its presence, to be upset to the point of tears when you couldn't find it.

Now I want you to consider that God loves you far more than you ever loved your teddy bear.

In fact, God loves all of us so much that there aren't even adequate words to describe the depth of his feeling - but let me try anyway. The psalm writer David's favorite word to describe God is "unfailing," even saying, "The earth is full of his unfailing love." Everywhere you go, you can't get away from God's love; the earth is bursting at the seams with it. And since he created you, all of that love is flowing in your direction. That quantity of love is literally impossible to imagine. Jesus also said that the greatest commandment was, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength" - with the entirety of your being. Nonstop, totally and completely, consumed with love for God. It is impossible for us to exceed God in anything, which means he must love us with the entirety of his being as well, and he has an infinitely greater amount of love to give than we do! And let's not forget the ultimate example, namely of God loving us so much that he sent Jesus to die a terrible death to pay for our sin, and Jesus in turn loving us so much that he did it willingly.

He loves you more than you ever loved your parents, more than you'll ever love your kids or your wife, more than you love your best friend or peanut butter and banana sandwiches. His love is so far above yours that when he hears you saying, "I love you," it's like you hearing one ant tell another, "You can lift so much weight!" The ant lifts a few ounces and thinks it knows heavy weight; you love someone and think you know great love. You know only a tiny, bare fraction of the amount of love that God is directing at you every moment of every day.

The teddy bear teaches another lesson about God, as well, namely one of value.

On my way to the youth retreat, I ducked into a Dollar General store and grabbed a teddy bear without putting a lot of thought into it. I think I paid three dollars. I gave two talks at the retreat; the first was about God's great love, in which I said basically all the things I've said so far in this essay. The second was about God's plan for his people, and how his plan is always good, acceptable, and perfect. At the end of the second talk, one of the youth gave her life to Christ. At that point, this three-dollar teddy bear became something much greater to me. It became a reminder of God's grace and power to save. Every time I look at the bear, I think of the girl who was saved (I don't even know her name) and think about what a mighty work God did using one 26-year-old man and one three-dollar teddy bear.

Even your teddy bear that you had growing up probably didn't cost more than five or ten dollars. In the world's eyes, it was worth very little, but in your eyes, it was worth everything. Its value was not determined by its monetary worth or by how large or ornate it was, but rather by how much you as a child cherished it. It may not have been worth much to anyone except you, but it was worth a lot to you, which is all that mattered.

Now you, as you read this, may not think that you're worth a lot in the world's eyes. You might focus on the things you don't like about yourself, the things that other people tell you could or should be better. You might wonder why anyone would want to be your friend at all. You might list your useful skills and find many things that amuse you but very few that would help you find a job - or vice versa. Or you might be quite satisfied with who you are but frustrated that you can't achieve more at work, or treat your loved ones better, or ever motivate yourself to clean the house. If you look hard enough at yourself, and if the world looks at you, there are plenty of things to dislike. If the world judges you on your achievements, there are plenty of opportunities to point out where you've fallen short. But to God, you're that three-dollar teddy bear. To the world you may be absolutely nothing, but to him, you're everything.

He values you more than you can ever know. He loved you before you were even born, and built you from scratch for the purpose of enjoying life and experiencing his love in a relationship with him. That is the sole reason you exist on this planet. When you came onto earth and ruined your relationship with God by ignoring him and rebelling against him, he loved you so much that he offered you salvation through the blood of Christ. He doesn't make you earn your way back to him, be good enough to deserve his love, or sell everything you own in order to follow him. All he wants is your love and for you to value him...the same as he has already done for you.

Is this news to you? Have you ever considered that God's love for you far surpasses your love for anything else in life? Did you know that his love for you was unfailing and so huge that it fills the whole earth? What that means for you in practical terms is that he wants you to have the very best that life has to offer you. He wants you to know love, joy, peace, good friendships, and lifelong fulfillment. But he knows one other secret: only he can provide those things. If you try to do life your own way, seeking after those things, you will fail and be miserable. If you ignore those things and make your entire life about loving and valuing God, he will give you all of those things without you having to seek after them!

That is what teddy bears have taught me about God. If you realize that you have been underestimating God's great love or how highly he thinks of you, I would urge you to repent and spend time in thought and prayer thanking him for his mercy. If you realize that you have never committed your entire life to loving and valuing God, never turned your back on your self-sufficiency and pride, then let me point out to you that God has a better way. He has a universe worth of blessings that he is just waiting to pour out on you, if only you will make him the center of your life. His unfailing love fills the whole earth. Isn't it time to feel it for yourself?

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