Thought of the Day !!

A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. "If you want to, you can make me well again," he said. Moved with pity, Jesus touched him. "I want to," he said. "Be healed!" Instantly the leprosy disappeared--the man was healed.
Mark 1:40-42 (NLT)

The gospel says nothing about this man except that he was a leper. But we know that lepers in that day and culture were outcasts. They were at the lowest class level. They were unclean, and if you touched one, you would be unclean as well. If this were not bad enough, they had to walk around wearing certain clothes that distinguished them as being different and yell out "unclean, unclean" so that all would know what they were.

Most believed that these people were sinners and had gotten themselves into this situation by the way they lived their lives. Most people thought them unworthy. Most people thought them to be different and repugnant people that were no good ---- and often up to no good.

But not Jesus. Can you see these poor people in your mind. Picture them. Take a good hard look at them. Do you have pity for them? Do you feel sorry for them? Jesus did.

Now think about those in our culture today that fit that same mold. Those whom you may think are outcasts, or different, or unworthy, or no good, or up to no good. Who are those people today? Can you find yourself feeling sorry for them?

Jesus does. Those are the ones that Jesus most wants to heal. He said that He came to heal the sick, not those who were well. And He wants us to help Him help them.

In the love of Christ,
greg