Something Don’d on Me! 6-11-20

“And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” 41Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”…” Mark 1:40
 

It was such a simple statement. The man was so honest and sincere. He knelt before this Man that everyone had been talking about. This Man was different-he had been healing people. He had cast demons out of a man in Capernaum. He even saved Peter’s Mother in Law! There was something different about Him. So the man just made a statement to the Teacher: “I KNOW you can do this, if you want to.”

 

The response of Jesus was simple and powerful…and it changed the course of history! It changed the course of you and I with a basic 3-word phrase: “I am willing.”

 

You see, the kneeling in front of Jesus wasn’t just any old man…he was a man suffering from a horrible disease: leprosy! This disease was not only physically painful, it caused its victims to be outcasts, banished outside of cities to never live a normal life again. It was a certain death sentence, with very little hope of ever recovering!

 

But the text says this: “Filled with compassion…” That’s the reaction Jesus has to the faith this man has…our Savior is overcome with a desire to see his life get better. So, the next little phrase makes all the difference: “He reached out and touched him.”

 

That’s what Jesus did for him-He reached out to touch him! But what makes it even more amazing is…He did the same thing for you and me! He reached out and touched us! We were dying with a disease known as sin! We had no hope! We had a certain death sentence…but He was willing…and HE STILL IS WILLING TO SAVE US! He broke the chain of leprosy from that man…& He still does that today!

 

We started our Summer Series – Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ – this last weekend, and I pray this affects you as much as it is me. Christ loves you right where you are… but He loves you enough NOT to leave you there! He WILL renovate your heart! He will tear out walls to let in more Light! He will remodel habits so that they shine for Him! AND HE IS STILL WILLING! He is willing to work with you, on you…to make you look more like Jesus! Maybe then the question is this: ARE YOU WILLING? Are you ready for HIM to do a reno project on YOU!

Join us again online this weekend…and let’s do DEMO together!

Shalom Alachiem – Peace Be Unto You All

Don