G. K. Chesterton once said, “All men matter. You matter. I matter. It’s the hardest thing in theology to believe.” Out of all the things in life we must understand, the love of God needs to be at the top. That is really what we are called to do. Jesus at the young age of twelve was found sitting in the temple asking questions. Before you start your day tomorrow, begin to ask quality questions.
The very first question in the Old Testament is, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-11 tells us, “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the [c]cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” In the midst of their sin, God went to them. He is not going to abandon you. When we make a mistake, the Lord is there with grace. God was asking a question that we should all ask today, where am I? Today ask yourself, “Where am I going? These questions will help us to grow in grace and wisdom.
The very first question in the New Testament was, “Where is He?” Matthew 2:1-2 says, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’” Why did the wise men go to see Jesus? They just wanted to worship Jesus. C. S. Lewis once said, “Look for Christ and you will find Him. And with Him, everything else.” Why do we go to church today? When we go to church to worship Jesus, we are like the wise men.
When John the Baptist heard that Jesus wanted to be baptized by him, he was in shock. The New Living Translation describes the interaction by saying, “But John tried to talk him out of it. ‘I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,’ he said, ‘so why are you coming to me?’” (Matthew 3:14). Also when Peter saw Jesus getting out the bucket of water and towel to wash his disciples feet, he was stunned. Peter wanted to wash Jesus’ feet. Perhaps when John saw his cousin Jesus, he felt that he didn’t matter enough to baptize Jesus. Maybe Peter didn’t feel that he mattered enough to have his feet washed. I think Jesus was telling John and Peter, “What you have been doing is great, you matter to me.” Ask the right questions. Maybe you are wondering, “Do I matter?” I want to echo the words of G. K. Chesterson, you matter to God!