Subtitle: Receive His power and let it change you. Let His power in you change someone else.
Excerpt: Luke 8:45-46 contrasts passive observation with active faith, urging a shift from being a bystander to a seeker of Jesus’ healing power.
Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Luke 8:45-46, “And Jesus said, ‘Who was it that touched Me?’ When all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the crowds surround You and are pressing in on You!’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched Me, for I perceive that power has gone out from Me.'”
Background
Few of us are probably following Jesus like we should be. Although we love Him and have given our hearts to Him, His abundant grace and mercy in our daily lives make it easy for us to take Him for granted or think we can manage on our own. We interact with Him, even talk to Him, but too often we are like the crowds surrounding Jesus in our verse. We are out there with the others, bumping into Him and wanting to see what He will do and say, but He’s not doing anything to us that is making a difference. But what He wants is for someone to touch Him. He wants us to grab ahold of Him because we have nothing else to grab onto. He wants us to touch Him with a purpose, believing that what He has and who He is can work inside of me. The woman that touched Jesus believed this. She was ill and unclean and had been for a dozen years. She was broke from trying to get healed by all the doctors. She hadn’t been in the temple in years, and she was embarrassed by her condition. But how different was she really from all the others in the crowd? Surely there were men walking there who had dark secrets that would shock others if they knew. There had to have been others who had made terrible choices or had unclean habits. Certainly many had hearts that were darker than most in the crowd would suspect.
Application
So why wasn’t everyone touching Jesus, touching Him like she did? Why the big crowd of hangers-on, and only one who pressed through them all to get to the healer? Well, why are we so often part of the crowd? What keeps us from going from interested participant to desperate seeker? Why are we so content to listen and watch instead of touching and receiving? Are we afraid? Embarrassed? What keeps us from knocking on a neighbor’s door? Being asked to leave or flatly rejected? How long does that hurt? Were we chosen to be part of the crowd? Will twelve more years go by before you feel His power?
Charge
As we seek Him today, ask God to move you from the crowd to the hem of His garment. Receive His power and let it change you. Let His power in you change someone else.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
Distributed by – BCWorldview.org