January 29, 2010
“Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying. “Master, if you want to, you can heal my body.” Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there all signs of the leprosy were gone.” Matthew 8:1-3 The Message
Who can approach Jesus …? (2)
Anyone .. Anyone who has no where to turn .. no one to turn to .. nothing to give and only a dis-eased life to place at His feet. Maybe you’ve asked Jesus over and over and nothing has changed. Maybe you’re afraid to approach Him until you’ve exhausted every resource you have at hand. Maybe you suffer from the lie that He is not good and the gospel of His life is not real. There isn’t a better time to reach Jesus than right now .. or whenever you’ve come to the place where He is the only one left. Jesus made a leper whole .. not just healed but whole. He sent him to a priest to proclaim him well and send him home to his family and friends. God’s wholeness is a whole heart and spirit surrounded by “home” and friends. God’s wholeness for your life is relationships. They are relationships made up of His “I want to .. Be clean”. It’s your cleansed life and a grace-filled spirit that bears the irrefutable marks of Jesus. He still heals lepers: anyone who feels unwanted .. forsaken .. rejected .. cast away .. living dis-eased with life. Jesus still heals. But Jesus still points every healed life .. cleansed life back to God with thanksgiving. Everyone has a spot that want healed. More often than not you still try to take care of it and not bother Jesus with something so small. There is nothing small to Jesus when it is about your life becoming whole through His touch and His spoken word in your life. You can come to Him to at anytime .. y .. for any subject. You may find yourself on your knees in praise … that’s okay … He likes that. It only takes a moment
“Jesus said, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.” Matthew 8:4 The Message
