Do you remember your first crush? I certainly cannot forget mine. The year was 2002 and I was in sixth grade. Brittany Spears was in her prime, everyone wore Abercrombie sweatshirts, and touch-screen phones didn’t exist yet. This was also the year I asked someone out for the first time. There was this girl in my school who caught my eye. She was in the seventh grade — an older, mature woman. I fell head-over- heels while barely knowing her. I would always try to find an excuse to talk to her. I would purposely hang out near her locker. I tried to become friends with her friends.

On February 10th, I decided to ask her out. I knew that Valentine’s Day was coming and I wanted to be sure to swoop her up before then. Thus, I did what any normal middle-schooler would do — I wrote her a poem. I had always been an artsy kid, so I thought this was a brilliant move. Without consulting a professional, I moved forward with my poetic plot. I sprayed a neatly-folded piece of paper with a spritz of cologne and slipped it into her locker.

This moment was so formative in my young-life that every second was stored in my mind like a hard-drive. That being said, I still remember how the poem went. It read, “Before I met you, the sky was dark and grey. Before I met you, I never had a good day. Before I met you, the birds never sang from above. But, now that I have met you, I do believe in love.”

Yeah, I was a boss.

After the bell rang, I stood around the corner so I could see her read the note. Nervously, I watched as she walked down the hallway and toward her locker. She opened the metal door and the note flopped to her feet. She picked up the note and confusingly unfolded it. Instantly, her face turned red as a rose. I was thinking, “That’s it! That’s the look of love!” It wasn’t. I watched in horror as she called all her friends over to the note and read it aloud to them. They all passed it around and laughed hysterically. It broke my little heart.

The whole school heard about it in a matter of moments. Girls giggled when I came into a room. Guys would quote parts of the poem to me while walking down the hallway. I even had a few teachers check if I was okay. Honestly, I wasn’t. That moment started a very long year of difficult emotions — I felt like I didn’t belong. I was an outcast.

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in or that you were just plain average? Those feelings can quickly evolve from mere emotions into a full- fledged identity. I understand, I have been there. However, I want you to hear this — you are far from average. God made you the way he did because he wanted to make you one of a kind. He loves you. He custom-designed you. He chases after you.

READ: Luke 15:2-7
Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

This parable seems a little confusing at first. Why on earth would a shepherd leave 99 perfectly good sheep to find one wandering sheep? 99% is a great percentage. If that was your grade, it’d be an A-plus. Why on earth would a shepherd risk the well-being of the other sheep just to search for the one. In this parable, Jesus is the good shepherd who is looking for his lost sheep. Jesus leaving the 99 just to find one seems irrational and illogical… until that one is you.

Never underestimate God’s passionate pursuit for His people. Whenever you are feeling outcasted, alone, average, not-good-enough, or inadequate, remind yourself that you are the one. Jesus chased after you even when it didn’t make sense. You might feel like no one notices you, but Jesus does. He does more than merely notice you. He radically loves you. He does this because He wants you to be with Him forever. He wants the best for you. He desires a relationship with you and He will go through great lengths to make that happen.