Great Faith

Day 8

⁴⁰ Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” ⁴² As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴ and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵ However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction. - Mark 1:40-45

This week, Rick Warren's 40 Days in The Word has a new method of studying scripture; he calls it "Picture It!". This involves reading narratives and parables with a creative and open mind, imagining yourself as one of the characters, and asking yourself questions like "how would you feel?" "how does their situation apply to me?"

Jesus heals a leper in the first passage. There are two main characters here, the leper and Jesus. What if you were them?

As the leper: He was so willing, and he had such faith. He was begging Christ on his knees to heal him. He barely knew Jesus yet he believed in his power and ability. "if you are willing, you can make me clean"; he didnt say "can you make me clean" or "make me clean if you feel like it", he was determined and knew Christ could make him clean.

As Jesus: Jesus was faced with so much, and lepers at time where unclean, they werent accepted socially, and was financially isolated, depending on charity. Yet Jesus chose to associate with him. Society today has continuously told us what is normal and what isnt. But as followers of Christ we are called to love and accept all people regardless of anything. I know its definitely difficult for me to learn and love "different" people at times, but we are all striving to imitate Christ. Everyone is a child a God, everything is made by the hands of the creator. We are to love all of it.

I think I can relate most to the leper right now. I need a faith like his. When he asked Jesus to make him clean, it sounded similar to what i've been trying to say the past week. Instead of "if you are willing, you can make me clean" i have been saying "if you are willing, you can show me the way" "if you want me to go, i'll go". Its difficult to have such faith, and requires one to truly give your entire trust to God, to let go of all control, completely, 100%. The leper demonstrated such faith without knowing Christ. We as Christians have the blessing to know Christ personally, our faith should be even greater, no? I'm in such an unpredictable time in my life, anything can be right around the corner, and relying on God knowing he's there working is so important, and it grants me such peace in my heart.

My Prayer: Heavenly Father, teach me to be willing. Especially in such a blurry lost time in my life, I need you to guide me along. I dont know know what lies ahead, I dont even know what lies tomorrow, but give me the strength to let go of myself, remembering that this life is meant to be lived for you, and only you. All glory to your name. Amen.