Thursday, August 15, 2002
I was about nine years old when my parents took me to meet Paul Bunyan. Actually it was this giant statue of that legendary lumberjack seated on this huge chair. My dad went to the ticket booth, paid for us, and then I went through the turnstile and into Paul's big yard. And there he was in his red plaid shirt and a little log cabin at his feet that showed how huge he was. And then came the heart attack. Suddenly this big voice boomed out for everybody to hear, "Hello, Ronnie." Man, for one of those rare moments in my life, I was ... I was totally speechless! How could I know that the ticket guy had asked my father my name and then relayed it to a man in that little log cabin - a man with a very big microphone. I was just amazed that someone that big actually knew me!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Cannot Go Unnoticed."
For many people, life has been a lot of not being recognized, not being acknowledged, not being known. Until, much to their amazement, like me as a little boy with that giant, they find out that the biggest Person in the world - in the universe - really knows and cares about who they are. And there comes that moment when it's as if He seems to call you by name.
It happened to a woman in Jesus' day, and it can happen to you - no matter how you've been treated in your life. Our word for today from the Word of God is found in Luke 8:42. "As Jesus was on His way, the crowds almost crushed Him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years. She came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped." Now Jesus goes on to ask who touched Him, which surprises His disciples that He could sense an individual encounter in such a crowd of people.
And here's the part I love. "Then, the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at His feet." She was utterly amazed. This woman, who had been ignored and passed over by so many people, had been noticed by the Son of God.
So have you. In fact, you have no idea what you mean to Jesus. First, because you're His one-of-a-kind creation. In the words of the Bible, "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:10) You are very special to Jesus. He made you. But not only are you His unique creation, you are His very expensive purchase. When Jesus went to that brutal cross, it was literally to die in your place, to absorb all the guilt and the death penalty for every sin you've ever sinned. He took your hell so you could go to heaven.
So no matter how excluded or unimportant or lonely you may feel, the most important person in the universe never stops thinking about you; never stops loving you. God says, "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast? ... Though she may forget you, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands." (Isaiah 49:15, 16) Every time Jesus looks at His hands He sees the nail prints left by the price He paid for you.
The question isn't whether Jesus has noticed you, it's whether you have noticed Him. That woman in the Bible received what Jesus had because she reached out in faith to Him. Has there ever been a time when you reached out to Jesus and said, "Lord, You are my only hope of knowing God, of being forgiven, of going to heaven. I'm yours." You'll never experience His love or His life until you do.
If you want to begin a relationship with this One who loves you as no one else ever has, tell Him that right where you are. And then I'd like to send you a booklet I wrote called "Yours For Life" - How to Have Life's Most Important Relationship. We'll tell you how to let us know you want it in just a moment.
Even while you've been too busy to notice Jesus, He has been reaching out to you. Today His nail-scarred hand is reaching your way one more time. Don't miss Him.