The Individual by Chuck Cluff

Reflections by Chuck Cluff, Atherton resident since 2004

Passage: Luke 15

Why is there so much interest in the single individual to Jesus in the Bible? Why is one person so valued? Because when you love someone a lot they are important. They matter!

At family gatherings if just one member is not there, something is missing. God’s love embraces everyone. Anyone not present is missed. Whenever groups are important, individuals are important, because groups are that many individuals. Numbers are multiples of 1, that many 1’s. Every gathering, whether a few, or hundreds of thousands, or millions, is that many single individuals. Can you imagine what those big numbers would look like if people were lined in a row.

Just one thing missing can be a big issue: If you want to be a millionaire how important is one dollar? What if you are one dollar shy of being a millionaire? How important is one link of a chain? If pulling a car out of a ditch with a winch, just one link short can keep you from getting around a bumper. How important is one person if your goal is one thousand in attendance? One short, you miss the goal. How important is one piece of a puzzle. Anyone who has lost one knows. Whether 25 or 1000 pieces are nicely in place, that hole in the puzzle drives one batty. How important is one ingredient in a recipe? Leave sugar out of a pie and you know.

How much more of concern is the absence of a loved one? All individuals are important to God; loved and cared about on the highest level. Each person we see is one of those loved ones. When 1 is missing, God stops at nothing while trying to reach that person and bring him/her home. The stories of the lost sheep, the misplaced coin and the prodigal son all illuminate the importance of the individual to God. Jesus told us and showed us the extent God would go to be close to a person he cares about. Doesn’t realizing that we matter so much to God stir up a deep desire in our hearts to want to please him? No person is insignificant to God. Realizing you are a unique 1and only to God does a lot for self-esteem!