The Sweetest Name I Know

In March of 2003 my sister invited me to her Arabic church because they were having a play called Heaven or Hell. I went to it, and in one of the final scenes, one of the actresses was so shouting of joy “Jesus! My Jesus! Hallelujah, it’s my Jesus!” over and over again as the character of Jesus appeared on the stage. I wondered then, how many more people in the world there are, that are in love with Jesus just as I am and even more? (Of course, I have not always been in love with Jesus; it seems that it is an on and off love affair at times!)

Few months before I came to Canada, in late of 1999, I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord and that proved crucial to my well being here. You see, as a teenager who is an introvert by nature, and who just made a complete cultural change, all the way from Iraq to Canada, I grew more depressed by the year. I can’t tell you the number of times I wished I could die; thanks be to God, because being a passive person meant I never acted on those feelings. The main reason I did not act on those feelings, was because some relatives of mine here in Canada strongly oppose God, Jesus and Christianity as a whole. They launch at every opportunity to scoff at God, His Word, His children, and His works. I knew that if I ever committed suicide, then they would have an excellent opportunity to belittle Christians—God’s followers. And to be honest, they would have all the right to do so, because our Lord Jesus Christ said that we will be known by the fruit we bear. So the idea that I could cause the name of Jesus to be ridiculed by even trying to take my life, kept me from doing so in those difficult years.

His Name by loswl

Early in my Christian life, I never understood “older” Christians when they talked about how they couldn’t wait to be joined with Jesus in heaven, but as I grew more to know Him I realized that’s my ultimate heart’s desire too. I wonder how many people died with the name of Jesus on their lips; I wonder how many people died with a smile on their face.

Here is the most documented man in history, yet we don’t even know his hair color! All we know is that he looked like a Middle Eastern Jew. We don’t even know how tall he was, yet billions fell in love with Him, worshiped Him, and were raped, tortured, ridiculed, oppressed, jailed, mutilated, and persecuted in every imaginable way, and even died for His name’s sake.

Do you know what I always wondered about Jesus? The ease with which He could make people relate to Him! Black slaves sang praises to His name while doing heavy labor to their white “masters” knowing fully well that Jesus was a “white” man too. Women relate to Him as if He is their best friend—and He is indeed! Children talk to Him as if He was their school buddy—and yes, His spirit does go to school with them! Elderly men and women cry out to Him, calling Him “Master”, “Lord”, and “God”, yet our mental image of Him while He was on earth is of a man in his early 30s! All that possible, because of His divinity, and the love He showed us on earth by dying on the cross in our place. A love that surpasses gender, race, nationality, age, and “social standing”. People all over the world fall in love with Him every second not because of His hair color or how tall He was, but because He is their God and He is perfect, but more importantly He showed (and still shows daily) that He is also perfectly in love with them.

PS: In Arabic Jesus is ‘Yesua’, and it sounds just as sweet 🙂