February 5

Life Transformed

Luke 5: 12, 13 (NIV)
While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Leprosy was a detestable disease. In this passage, he was covered with it which made him unclean. In those days, if a person was considered unclean they could not be a part of regular society. Just like him, I too felt unclean. I felt completely dirty and ashamed because of my past and what I lived through. I can identify with the desperate way in which this man fell with his face to the ground before the Lord. He knew that Jesus was able to heal him. He was so humbled by His presence and at the same time so desperate to be healed. The other unspoken beauty of this passage is that Jesus did not have to touch the man. Many other times in the Gospels there are accounts of Jesus simply speaking the words of healing. But in this passage with this man covered in the most disgusting disease of the time, Jesus reaches down and touches the man to heal him. How intimate and loving of Jesus. You will experience God’s healing touch on your sin and pain.

One particular day while doing my devotional, I felt particularly ashamed of my past. I was ashamed of what was done to me and things that I did. I got down on the floor, with my face in the carpet, and begged Jesus to touch me and heal me. Like the man with leprosy, Jesus lovingly and gently, touched my hurt and pain like no one else could. However, unlike this man, my healing was a process as opposed to immediate. That process was a necessary journey that I had to take with Jesus. It would not have been as meaningful if it was immediate. However, I can say that my healing was real and I have the scars to prove it.

Please have patience. We are here in this life on a journey. Our life here is a process. We are not meant to be instantly perfect. God is teaching us, shaping us, molding us into HIS ideal of what He created us to be. Does a sailor get in his boat and desire to instantly be at his destination? No, there is joy and beauty in the journey. It’s a process. We are not to be finished products while we are here on earth.