If reality television existed in Jesus' day, He would have been on the show Hoarders. The show would probably open with Mary speaking candidly about her son as the camera pans across Jesus' motley crew.

"He has so many things going for him. He knows the bible better than any rabbi out there. He's good looking. For Samuel's sake, He is the Son of God! But He keeps all this junk around that He'll never be able to use. It was cute at first, then a little concerning, but now I'm scared all this baggage is going to ruin His life!"

"Joseph, what do you think about this situation?" the interviewer would ask.

"I just don't know what to do anymore," Joseph replies. "I mean, what on earth is he gonna do with a tax collector, fisherman, hookers, or robbers?! I mean, he takes them EVERYWHERE! Hopefully he'll deal with this before it kills him."

Ok, so Mary and Joseph probably wouldn't have said anything like that. But the religious leaders most definitely looked down on Jesus and his crew of nobodies.

I have two points.

Jesus believes in you. It doesn't matter who you think you are, what you've done, or where you've been; God sees His precious child who was made specifically and with purpose.

We should see people as God sees them. It doesn't matter who we think they are, what they've done, or where they've been; God sees His precious child who was made specifically and with purpose.

We are all junk that should've been thrown away long ago, but Jesus saw something nobody else could see. Just like books, we all have an author. Our author knows the intricacies and intimacies that are laced in every page of our lives. We are ALL jacked up but Jesus looks beyond our cover to our heart. We should too.

Be encouraged. Be challenged. You are loved. They are loved.

"To love someone means to see him as God intended him." - Fyodor Dostoyevski