"Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Matthew 8:1-4 NKJV
This leper, in his sickness and pain, heard that Jesus was about and, with confidence approached Him with his request, 'If You are willing, You can make me clean.' He said this from his heart, he knew that Jesus was capable of healing him and he had nothing to lose. As a leper should never come close to another person, Jesus could have, and as people expected, should have thrown stones at him to keep him away from them, through fear of infection. However, He did the opposite and stretched out His hand, touched him and said, 'I am willing; be cleansed.'
This was totally contrary to what should have happened and could have caused an uproar from the people. However, Jesus did the right thing and sent him to a priest to have him checked over and receive a certificate of healing.
This piece of scripture shows us three things that attract Jesus' attention:
Confidence The leper would have been unsure about Jesus' feelings about him approaching. He didn't know if he would have been cast aside because of this disease. However, deep in his heart, he knew that there was something different about Jesus; he felt that he could trust Him and so, went to Him with confidence. Hebrews 4:16 tells us to go boldly to the throne of grace that we may find help in times of need.' And this is what this man did. He went to Jesus in his need. And so should we. Jesus wants us to have this confidence in Him.
Humility James 4:6 says, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Again in James 4:10, he say's 'Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.' God will always resist the pompous and arrogant attitude but, will always receive the person who humbles himself before Him.
Reverence The leper came to Jesus worshiping Him and this, is how we should approach the King of kings. He loves us and is our friend but, we should never take things for granted with Him. He deserves our respect and we should always be prepared to give Him this.
These are three areas that will get His attention, there are obviously more, but carrying out these three is a good place to start. Be confident in His presence, be humble and treat Him with respect and you will receive His full attention.
Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard
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