Depersonalization, estrangement, isolation, the lonely
crowd-these are the terms that characterize our age.
We play the role. We pretend that it doesn’t matter.
 
But inside we’re alone, desperately alone.
We seek acceptance and identity in strange ways.
We join street gangs, organizations, societies, bridge
clubs, peace marches, protest groups, country clubs, service
associations, political parties and even churches.

Yet we remain dissatisfied, unfulfilled, unloved. Beneath our
thin facade of sophistication we battle disconcerting doubts,
haunting fears, and crippling anxieties.

Silently we cry out for someone who will listen, who will
understand, who will care.

Many of us conclude with the Psalmist of old, I look to the right
and watch, but there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge
remains to me, no man cares for me. (Psalm 142:4)

Is there, then, anyone who cares?
Is there perhaps someone beyond the world who cares?
Is there  even anybody out there?

If there is, is it possible that He, the great infinite God of
the universe, is even aware of the individual member of the
species homo sapiens on His microscopic planet Earth,
 let alone concerned? 

Jesus Christ-who, confessedly, must be a liar, a lunatic,
a legend, or the truth-once asked, What shall it profit a man, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8: 36).

He plainly implies, in other words, that the soul of one man out
values the combined worth of all the world’s treasures.
He asked, moreover, Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will.
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
 (Matthew 10: 29-31).

Not only is the God of the universe aware of us, He has numbered
the hairs of our heads. To God, the individual matters, matters so much
that, He gave  his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him
should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

To become one of "his own" you must abandon the facade and
admit you, too are a lost sinner.  You must repent of your sin, be willing
to turn from it. You must invite Him to become your
Shepherd, and your Lord.

You must ask Him to make you a child of the heavenly Father.
You must believe that He will.

To deny God's ability or longing to meet your deepest needs
 is to deny the authority of His Son. It is to deny the unanimous
 testimony of His children down through the centuries.

To accept His offer of love is to find your hope for real peace and
real assurance in this age of insecurity. To do so is to find authentic
personal identity.  It is to find a Friend who has said,
 I will never fail you or forsake you.

Who cares? God does. 
He sent His Son to die for you.
He raised His Son to live in you.
He brought this message to you.

(John S. Oldfield, Abridged)