Word for Wednesday
And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand and touched him, and said unto him, I will, be thou clean. Mark 1:41
A portrait taken in the Trustees Room of the New York Public Library by a photographer for Forbes magazine shows a happy group of well-dressed and impressive looking people. All look happy, some wearing friendly smiles for the camera. That dozen includes some of the wealthiest people in the world, the likes of Warren Buffet, Bill and Melinda Gates, Jon Bon Jovi, and David Rubenstein. This wealthy dozen is marked not just by how much money they have but also by how much of it they have given away. Warren Buffet, for example, has reportedly given away 99 percent of everything he has earned (and he’s still a rich man). Most of the money has gone to undoubtedly good causes and has helped many thousands of unfortunate people. Were these great philanthropists motivated by compassion, like Jesus was? We can’t tell. But we do know that their compassion couldn’t reach as deeply as Jesus’ could.
Not all of the $170 billion or so represented by those billionaires in the Forbes photo could cure the poor leper who came to Jesus. And not all of that money would have enticed any of those billionaires to place their hands on a leper. If Jesus had given the poor leper a loaf of bread, or even a handful of shekels, He would have helped the man. But He understood the leper’s real need, He cared about the leper’s condition, and from a resource deeper than any bank account of earth, He poured out His compassion and healing. There is something very moving and magnificent in the fact that Jesus actually reached out and touched the man, the first kind touch he had felt in years. It was an act that we ought to study today.
As Jesus understood the needs of the leper, so we understand the needs of the lost world around us. As Jesus reached out to the leper and touched him, we ought to be willing to reach out and touch those around us. The leper understood that his healing depended on Jesus’ willingness. But the lost souls around us are unaware that Jesus is willing to save them. They know nothing of His compassion and His willingness to envelope them in His love and His Salvation. You and I must show that love, that compassion, that willingness to reach out and touch, and tell of Jesus’ provision for them.
What spiritual leper will God bring to you today to display His compassion and willingness to save? And will you reach out and touch them? – Jim MacIntosh