 “While Jesus
was in one of the towns, a man came along who
was covered with leprosy. When
he saw Jesus, he fell facedown and begged Him,
“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me
clean.”
13Jesus
reached out His hand and touched the man. “I am
willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately
the leprosy left him.”
+ Luke 5:12-13
If you could
ask God to do anything for you, what would it
be? It’s not that God is our “Gennie in the
lamp”, but we do sometimes treat Him this
way. As I look back at my own life, I can say
that I have asked Him for many foolish things,
as if God were my Gennie. Now that I am more
mature I can say that it I am glad God did not
give me some of the foolish things I asked
for. We can be glad that God knows better than
to answer some of the prayers we pray and
doesn’t always give us what we think we want.
This man’s
prayer however is deserving of study. He had a
serious problem, a bacterial infection called Mycobacterium
leprae. This infection causes paralysis and
eventually blindness, all while skin and
appendages like your nose, ears, and fingers
inflame and fall off over time. To add to the
mental and physical torment was the social
torture as well. From the very first sign of
infection, these people were forced to leave
their loved ones and spend the rest of their
lives away from their families, either in
isolation or in a leper colony. It was an awful
disease.
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But
again, study the prayer. To do so is to discover that this man
did not specifically ask for ‘healing’, he asked to be ‘made
clean’. That is a religious term. What he was asking for was
access to God! In those days, not only did you have to stay
away from family, but you could not go into the Temple either
and sacrifice for sin. This man was more concerned about the
decay and deterioration of his soul, than he was his body. He
was looking for forgiveness more than he was healing. That’s
quite remarkable. Do people with such desires still exist
today??
Let us
today study our own prayers and what we ask God for. What is at
the heart’s desire of our words? Are they for wealth, health,
and happiness, or is our desire over all things to come to God
and be right with Him, having sins forgiven and to be ‘made
clean’? The leper not only had right desires, but he also came
to the right Person! Jesus is the only One through whom
sacrifice for all our sins is made and through whom access to
God and Heaven is given! Best yet, HE IS WILLING TO MAKE YOU
CLEAN!
Daily devotion by
Pastor Dan McQuality,
Grace Lutheran Church, 201 S. College St., Lincoln, IL
10:30 am Sunday Worship; 9:00 am Bible Study
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