Lord, if You Will, You Can Make Me Clean
And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean” (Matt. 8:2 ESV)
Do the words spoken by the leprous man above to Jesus sound familiar to any situation you have gone through or possibly currently facing? This man had leprosy and came to Jesus not doubting His power to help him but His willingness to do so. He knew Jesus could help him if He really wanted to. However, He was not sure Jesus wanted to.
How many times do many of us still find ourselves in this man’s place? It is so sad how religion has taught us to question the goodness of God. It is more natural to think a man can do something good to you than to think God will. For many reasons, we often think God does not want us to have things easy in life. He is a God that ALWAYS has some “mystery plan to make us suffer to achieve some eternal plan.” People come up with all sorts of spiritual reasons why God will not do something good to them. God’s relationship with Israel in the Old Testament indeed painted a picture of who God is in our minds that is so hard for many of us to clear off with the new revelation of God Jesus brings. The truth is that the Law did not reveal who God really is. It is a long story. Jesus is the perfect, complete revelation of who God is, what He wants to do and what He desires for our lives.
When this man told Jesus “if You will,” verse 3 says “and Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed (Matt. 8:3 ESV). Brother, sister, He is saying the same thing to you today. I will be clean and delivered form that bondage whether disease, demonic oppression, poverty, fears, worries, etc that may be tormenting your life right now. He came that we may have life and have it in abundance.
MEDITATE
Why do you think this leper doubt Jesus’s willingness to help him?
APPLY THE WORD
It is crucial for you to know and believe God is a good Father. Please do all you can to clean your mind from the influence of “Christian religion” which is working to some degree in almost all of us. Embrace the God that Jesus came to reveal to us.
PRAY
Thank the LORD right now for being such an excellent good Father to us.
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