Word@Work 059 - Mark 5:24b-29
Published: Mon, 02/11/08
Word@Work from BeaconLight
Read Mark 5:24b-29 A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. (NIV)
We all like to feel well. After twelve years of misery (by the sound of it - made worse by the doctors), the woman came to Jesus. She had nothing to offer Him except her need of healing. Despite the pressing crowds, she believed that He was her only hope, and that even to touch His clothes would bring her a new life. Of course, she was right - and her act of faith was rewarded.
However importantly we think of physical well-being, all the healing miracles of the Bible have a deeper meaning. They are signs that Jesus can reach into the impossible and change people, radically, from the inside. They simply believed in Jesus - confident of His willingness and ability to transform their hopeless condition. Here, after mounting medical bills and failed treatments, Jesus showed the power of God in response to faith.
It is the same today: after a catalogue of failed fix-its, peace of mind (and rest of heart) only comes to those who come to Jesus ... in simple faith. As with the woman, the process starts when people hear about the Saviour - and somebody has to tell them! However kind our actions and the sympathy we give, it is only Jesus who can address the problem. So let's make up our minds today to introduce our colleagues to Jesus: He is the only one who can bring sense to the chaos, and peace to the pain.
Prayer: Gracious Father, thank you for Your love that desires the salvation of everybody. Forgive me for thinking that I can fix-it for people, or that my compassion can make the difference without Jesus being centrally involved with my friends and family. Help me to be straightforward, and to introduce them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
We all like to feel well. After twelve years of misery (by the sound of it - made worse by the doctors), the woman came to Jesus. She had nothing to offer Him except her need of healing. Despite the pressing crowds, she believed that He was her only hope, and that even to touch His clothes would bring her a new life. Of course, she was right - and her act of faith was rewarded.
However importantly we think of physical well-being, all the healing miracles of the Bible have a deeper meaning. They are signs that Jesus can reach into the impossible and change people, radically, from the inside. They simply believed in Jesus - confident of His willingness and ability to transform their hopeless condition. Here, after mounting medical bills and failed treatments, Jesus showed the power of God in response to faith.
It is the same today: after a catalogue of failed fix-its, peace of mind (and rest of heart) only comes to those who come to Jesus ... in simple faith. As with the woman, the process starts when people hear about the Saviour - and somebody has to tell them! However kind our actions and the sympathy we give, it is only Jesus who can address the problem. So let's make up our minds today to introduce our colleagues to Jesus: He is the only one who can bring sense to the chaos, and peace to the pain.
Prayer: Gracious Father, thank you for Your love that desires the salvation of everybody. Forgive me for thinking that I can fix-it for people, or that my compassion can make the difference without Jesus being centrally involved with my friends and family. Help me to be straightforward, and to introduce them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
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