Our Personal Jesus

I am fascinated by the bread aisle in supermarkets.  Someday I’m going to count how many different varieties are available.  There is Wonder Bread that keeps our bodies healthy in twelve ways.  There is Wonder Bread lo-cal that obviously doesn’t keep us healthy in any way because they don’t mention any.  There is raisin bread, rye bread, cinnamon bread, sourdough bread, whole wheat and on and on.  I am fascinated that just prior to a huge snow storm people rush to the store and buy up all the bread as if we are going to be buried for weeks.  (We never are!)  Jesus loved metaphors and “I am the bread of life” is one of His best.  John 6
 
In 2002 Johnny Cash recorded Depeche Mode’s Your Personal Jesus, which was ranked in 2004 by Rolling Stone Magazine as number 368 of the 500 Most Outstanding Songs of All Time.  Some of its lyrics are,

“Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who’s there
 
Feeling unknown
And you’re all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I’ll make you a believer.”
 
When I stare at all the kinds of bread in my supermarket I often think of the idea of how many kinds of Jesus the world needs.  Each of us needs our own personal Jesus.  Each of us has different needs because of our uniquenesses.  One of the wonders of Jesus is His love for variety.  (Check out how many kinds of birds He created.)  Becoming a Christian does not demand we all dress alike, act alike or think alike.  The love that grows in us is as special as the DNA that comprises us.