Are You Willing?
MATTHEW 8:1-17
(January 10)
My prayer every day includes a few sentences that are important to me.
"Lord, give me eyes to see those that I can help in some way, and let me be of service to them. Don't let me miss an opportunity to serve you."
I say that because I WANT to serve, and I WANT to make a difference in the life of whoever God puts in my path. It doesn't have to be some giant act of service. The little things we can do to make someone's day better go a long way.
The key is you have to be willing. You need to have that desire within you to do something. The beautiful thing about Jesus is that he was willing ... to do what his father requested of him ... even to death.
When the leper approached him on the mountain and asked for healing, Jesus said, "I am willing." And this man was healed of his leprosy. This disease put fear in everyone because there was no cure. (But Jesus.) Some forms were contagious, so you can imagine the ostracization that happened if you became afflicted. Lepers had to leave their homes and live in a community with other lepers, usually until death.
But Jesus did not fear this man. He reached out and touched him with his hand. We will read later in Matthew where he actually spent his last days in the house of a leper.
Jesus sent the leper on to see a priest because that was what the law required. Jesus knew this would give the leper the opportunity to tell the priest first-hand what he had just experienced. This public testimony would allow him to return home to his family.
Later, Jesus is back in Capernaum when a Roman officer pleads for him to heal his young servant, who is paralyzed and in terrible pain. Once again, Jesus was willing.
This officer didn't feel worthy to have Jesus in his home, so he requested that he just speak the healing from where he was. The faith of this Roman soldier amazed Jesus ... that he would believe that Jesus could speak healing over someone that far away. Because of the soldier's faith, he was rewarded. Jesus told him to go home where he would find the servant healed.
Upon arriving at Peter's house, Jesus found out Peter's mother-in-law was sick with a high fever. Just by touching her hand, she was healed. The same thing happened later in the evening when many demon-possessed people were brought to him for healing.
The key to all of this is WILLINGNESS. Jesus was willing to do these acts of service for these people, most of whom he didn't even know. He was there to fulfill a prophecy with a willing heart.
But he wasn't the only one who was willing. The leper, the soldier, Peter, and those who brought the demon-possessed were also willing. They were willing to step out in faith and ask for a miraculous and unheard-of healing. They were willing to risk being rejected, in order to ask for help.
How many times do we resist the urge to ask for help? We think we can handle a situation all by ourselves. Sometimes we can, sometimes we can't.
We never have to do anything on our own. As long as we are willing to seek help. Jesus is right there, waiting for us to ask. In James 4:2, we get this nugget of wisdom, "You do not have because you do not ask God."
The people in today's reading were not afraid to ask. They were willing to step out in the hope that Jesus would be willing to do what only he can do.
I will leave you with this question ... are you willing? Are you willing to ask Jesus for what you need and are you willing to ask him to show you what someone might need from you?