President, Legacy Christian
Universty, Huntsville
One of my favorite stories from the Bible is that of the leper who asks if Jesus is willing to heal him (Luke 5:12–14). At first take it almost seems silly — why would Jesus not want to heal someone? Here was a guy with an incurable terminal disease that caused him to be separated from friends, family and even church and all he wanted was to be restored. I’m sure he longed to be reunited with loved ones and accepted in society. He probably also wanted to know he was valued and loved by God.
While most of us in the modern world will not contract leprosy we do have things in our lives that separate us from others and from God. Sometimes we think these issues, or sins, are simply too big for God to forgive.
We sometimes think we are too far gone for God to restore so why would He bother. Over the years I have heard many people say they have done “too many terrible things” for God to love them. “If you knew what I have done” is a common theme for many. Some feel they must “straighten out” their lives before God would love them but this story demonstrates something entirely different.
Jesus was moved with compassion by the leprous man’s request for healing and stated His willingness. We see this repeated in various stories where Jesus forgave sins openly. You see, we can’t be clean until God cleanses us. We can’t get past our sins until we let Jesus willingly forgive and restore us.
We all have hurts. We all want healing and restoration — physical, emotional and spiritual. Jesus is our loving and compassionate Savior and Healer. He is willing to heal us and forgive us of even the most undesirable sins. He is compassionate and willing to love on us if we simply ask and believe. Are you willing to believe? If so, just ask and He will be faithful and just to forgive (1 John 1:9).
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