He Will Be Called “J”

Thoughts Along the Way

Elaine Mehn

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Matthew 1:21

I recently received a letter encouraging us as we serve Jesus. I appreciated the encouragement as there are times when I wonder if anyone cares but the letter did not use the name Jesus. Rather it used the letter J. Using “J” instead of typing out Jesus did bother me a great deal. I’m sure the sender was simply following the current trend of shortening words to make it faster to send text messages. It got me thinking how we in many ways diminish Jesus when we reduce Him to an initial.

Jesus died for my sins not to make it more convenient for me. He rose from the dead not to make my life easier. He lives in me not to make my life more complicated or to place more demands on me. He did all these things for me because He loves me with a sacrificial love that knows how desperately I need to have my sins forgiven and my very nature changed. He did all that was required to purchase me and cleanse me. He did not do most of what was needed or some of what was necessary. The physical and spiritual pain He suffered was not abbreviated for convenience sake. I need to increase His value in my life rather than decrease it. I need Jesus in bold caps.

The second problem with reducing Jesus to a “J” is that it shrinks my view of my sin. If I only need a “J” as a Savior it is because I only have an “s” in the way of sin. I have an abbreviated Savior for my tiny little sin. The truth is that my sin and my sins are immense. They could use up all of the letters in the alphabet (26) and all of the letters in the Japanese writing system without beginning to touch the scope and depth of them. (Hiragana 52, Katakana 52, Kanji in the thousands) I don’t need fewer letters, I need more. As I honestly look at my judgmental attitude, my self-centeredness, my desire to be right and in control, and my pride I realize afresh how big a Savior I need. Along with learning how big my sin is; I am learning how much bigger and sweeter Jesus is. He is the lover of my soul, the Sonshine of each and every day, and the reason to be all that He can make me to be.

Prayer: Father, forgive me for the many times I have said in my heart that I am not such a big sinner and there by reduced Jesus to a “J”. Forgive me for thinking more of myself than I should and less of Jesus than He deserves. Thank you for the grace and mercy You pour into my life. May I have an ever increasing wonder at the marvel of Jesus’ sacrifice.