I took a Sunday school lesson not so long ago where we were learning that Jesus accepts us. The material said to use the acronym JAM to help the children remember 'Jesus Accepts Me'.
I bought some cute little empty jam jars and a few big pots of cheap strawberry jam. I decanted the jam into the little pots and put labels on them: JAM: Jesus Accepts Me. I cut little circles of cloth and attached them over the lids with an elastic band. They looked very sweet. The children got to take one home each.
My daughter was very pleased to have Jesus Accepts Me jam on her toast. My son also wanted Jesus Accepts Me jam on his toast so the little jar was soon empty. When it ran out I got out the big jar of jam from which I'd filled the little ones. But he was not happy. He only wanted jam from the Jesus Accepts Me jar. We tried explaining that it was the same jam, but he was still not satisfied. In the end I refilled the little jar and then spread it on his bread. Then he was content that he'd had 'special' Jesus Accepts Me jam.
This is story does not model the most brilliant example of parenting but I felt God spoke to me through it.
It was the same jam. The only difference was the label on the jar it was in.
I thought about my life as a Christian. When we are saved, it's like we are 'decanted' into Christ. He takes our sticky mess and puts it in his perfect self. Now the label on our jar says "Jesus accepts me." It says "forgiven". It says "justified". It says "loved". Wow.
What is on the label of your jar?
Thank you Jesus for accepting me into your jar. Thank you for the 'labels' you put over me. Help me to believe them and not go back to accepting others' labels on my life. Amen.
