Last week my husband was teaching a lesson in our weeknight children’s program where he needed a baby Jesus for an object lesson, so we found a Fisher Price baby Jesus from a toy manger in the preschool area of our church. That same night, I was volunteering in our Middle school area. About halfway through the night, he brought the baby Jesus to me so it could be put away. Since I was busy at the time, without even thinking I simply put the baby Jesus in my pocket until it could be returned to its rightful place in the manger. As the night went on it became a joke of sorts. I would say “Hey, do you know where Jesus is, because I do”, as I pulled the toy out of my pocket. It was silly of course, but I do work with Middle schoolers, so… 

As the night wore on, the idea that I had Jesus in my pocket was never far from my mind. Until of course I was heading home and realized I had forgotten to return the toy. This seemingly small and silly experience ended up challenging my thinking. Questions rattled through my mind as I drove home that night – Why don’t I remember that Jesus is with me all time? Why is He not on my mind all day, every day? Why did it take a toy baby Jesus for me to be reminded that the real Jesus never ever leaves me. He lives not in my pocket, but inside my heart.

John 6:35 says “I am the bread of life, Jesus told them. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.” Think about those words – if Jesus is with you you will never be hungry or thirsty again. Jesus is obviously not talking about real food and water, but the fact that once you’ve got Jesus in you- you’ve got him for good! 

Have you ever played the game “never have I ever”? It has several different names, but they all go something like this -Everyone sits in a circle with one person standing in the middle. The person standing says something like “never have I ever broken a bone”, then anyone sitting who has broken a bone stands up and scrambles to find one of the open chairs. The last one standing is the next one to say “never have I ever…..”. Now imagine playing that game with Jesus as the one standing in the center of the circle. He starts off by saying Never have I ever failed you, but no one else can stand. So He continues never have I ever forgotten you, left you behind or turned my back on you, in fact I have always provided for your every need. 

Never have I ever ignored you, given up on you, not listened when you called to me, walked away from you or turned my back on you.

Never have I ever left you alone to fend for yourself, been ashamed of you or stopped working on you.

Never have I ever failed to forgive you or let you off the hook for your sin, instead I’ve disciplined you because I deeply love you!

Never have I ever failed to call you daughter, child, or loved because my love never ever fails!

Jesus still stands in the center, because He is the only One who can!

Then the next day I had to remember to put baby Jesus back in my pocket so I could take him back and put him back in the manger. But in reality Jesus, is not something we can ever put away. 

Several days ago I read 1 Corinthians 2:2 which says “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” These words have stuck with me for days. I love that Paul says “I decided” because it symbolizes his knowledge that he had a choice in what or who to know. In His case that was nothing but Jesus.

There is no doubt that Jesus is the ultimate winner of “never have I ever”, because He can’t change who He is – He lives, He loves, He works, He changes us, He challenges us, He grows us.

He is jealous for us, He listens, He responds and He speaks to us. He never acts before the time is right, but is always working, even when we can’t see His work or even understand. He is never unfaithful, He never ever leaves – but stays with us wherever we go. And isn’t that exactly where Jesus belongs – in the center of our circle, our hearts, our families, our community groups? We don’t have to remember to put him in our pocket every day, because He is already in our hearts!