Jesus' faith in you

"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."--Matthew 16.19
This past Sunday, the Power with Purpose Young Adult Group was looking at a lesson by Pastor Rob Bell. In the lesson, Rob asked an incredible question: "Faith in Jesus is important, but what about Jesus' faith in us? I mean he must have faith in us because he leaves it all in the hands of these disciples. Do you believe that God believes in you?"
Wow! What an idea! That God, the Lord over all the universe, would believe in me, the bundle of humanity that I am, with all my faults and oddities, with all my mistakes and sins, with all my insecurities and doubts. How can this be?
In the Scripture above, Jesus gives an incredible responsibility to his followers. Similarly, at the end of Matthew's gospel, Jesus gives the famous Great Commission: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28.18b-20)
It's absolutely astounding that the Lord of all the Universe would entrust His Salvation Mission to a rag-tag group of 11 disciples (the 12th, Judas, had recently "tendered his resignation.")
As Rob Bell points out, this group was a group of people who had been looked over by the religious leaders of the day. That's why none of them were rabbis, chief priests, or religious scholars. Most of them were common fishermen. And what mistakes they made! Just read the gospels and you'll find out how human they were. Peter, one of their top leaders even once denied that he even knew who Jesus was! If the Lord of the Universe would entrust His Salvation Mission to this group, if he could believe in these common men, then surely He believe in you and me!
"Do you believe that God believes in you?" (Here's a hint: God would not have created you with His own hands and breathed into you the breath of life, His life-giving Spirit, if God did not believe in you!)
So, be who you are! There is no one that does it just like you! You are God's gift to the world!