O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

"O the deep, deep love
All I need and trust
Is the deep, deep love of Jesus."  Samuel Trevor Francis (1834-1925)

Jesus has known me and loved me for a very long time.   And I've known Him for a long time too. My parents grew up in the First Baptist Church of Enterprise,  Alabama. When I was just two years old they left First Baptist with  my older brother and me to help form a "mission" across town, On October 30th,  1955 a groundbreaking service was held and  the  Hillcrest Baptist Church was born.  I was raised in that church.

But my first memory of knowing Jesus for myself was an experience at the First Baptist Church and not at Hillcrest. My mother took my older brother and me to the Vacation Bible School back at  First Baptist.  As part of that VBS we were asked to memorize a Bible verse, Psalm 56:3 "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee."  That verse had a powerful impact on me.  It said, "What time (I) am afraid." I. Me. Myself.  It said "Jesus knows me and wants to help me". That was an incredible realization for a five year old. It still is.

So as a five year old boy did I get saved?  Well yes I think I did.  If salvation means turning your whole self over to Jesus, then that's what I did. I wanted and needed to trust Jesus to help  me when I was afraid. So I did. The records at Hillcrest Baptist Church will show that I made "a profession of faith" when I was ten.  But I had professed that faith in  my heart five years prior. That means that Jesus has been following me for sixty-three years and I've been following him for most of that time.

When my late and very great father-in-law was filled with the Spirit he would say, "David, I'm all full up."  Well I'm all full up.  It's hard for me to imagine life being much better.  My wife and I are several months into the Golden Years and they are certainly as advertised.  We've been able to get caught up with family and friends all over the country.  "I'm sorry we're not going to be able to" is suddenly becoming, "Yes! We'd love to." There are just so many things going right. Neither of us has completely stopped working, but we both are learning a new definition of "leisure."  I still enjoy my day job and several hobbies including one of my favorite hobbies "doing little or nothing." But my new avocation of holding newborn babies in the NICU is quickly becoming the love of my life. I'm still not sure what I do for them, but I am very certain of what they do for me. These babies are small packages of love, warmth and beauty. I look down at them and they look at me with "And who the heck are you?" and yet reward me with mutual comfort and trust. "O the deep, deep love of Jesus. Underneath me, all around me is the current of your love."

Besides our other opportunities and responsibilities, my wife and I provide "respite care" for a foster family who have teenagers and  a beautiful seven month old little boy. He was born into foster care through the NICU where I volunteer. We got involved with him when he was just a few days old.  His mom is bringing him over this afternoon to spend the weekend with us. I have no words to express how much we love this precious and loving little man. My mother lost my little brother at just eight days old. For the rest of her life from time to time she would say, "David, James Burt looked just like you." Several people who have seen our little man or his photo have said, "David, he looks just like you."  Who knows?  Who knows?

"O the deep, deep love of Jesus. And it lifts me up to glory because it lifts me up to Thee"

As critical as I can be of churchianity, fundamentalism, narrow Bible interpretation and the like,  I do believe that it is possible to have a real and personal relationship with Jesus. But I want to suggest that instead of looking for some disembodied presence, you will most often find Him as you love other people. Specifically, the nearest route to finding Jesus is by loving a child. "Suffer the little children to come to Me for of such is the kingdom of God."

That summer at the First Baptist Church, besides Psalm 56:3 that she had me learn, there was a teacher, a kind and loving teacher who took me under her arm and demonstrated the deep, deep love of Jesus. I'm quite sure of this. For that I'm deeply humbled and eternally grateful.

I have issues, an abundance of issues.  But I  have Jesus and am increasingly unafraid.