Thursday's Thought

Mark 1:42-45

42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

43 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;

44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

45 But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.

Good morning, family & friends!

Today is the first Thursday of February, and time is marching on. It's so hard to believe that January 2016 is already behind us but it is! 

If you read yesterday's post, you may recall that I wrote about Jesus having compassion on the leper and touching him. Others could not or would not touch him, as he was unclean to them, yet Jesus touched him and cleansed him. 

Today's post is a continuation of that same Bible story, but today I want to focus on the latter part. After Jesus cleansed the leper, He gave him a charge before sending him away. Jesus told the leper to, "say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest..." It sounded like Jesus wanted the now-cleansed leper to quietly leave the presence of the Healer and, on his way to the priest, to remain mute.

The leper may have heeded Jesus' command for a few minutes but, how could this man who was formerly unclean and an outcast from society, remain quiet about what had happened to him? My husband and I talked about this yesterday, wondering why Jesus did not want the miracle broadcast? Was it a test to see if the leper would indeed talk about Jesus to others? 

Whatever the reason for Jesus' charge to the leper to keep his miracle a secret, the leper did not obey, as he began to publish it and "blaze abroad the matter." He told everybody that he had been cleansed. He was no longer a leper. He could go home to his family and live a normal life again. 

When I compare myself to this leper, I ask myself this question - Am I openly declaring to others what Jesus has done for me? Am I willing to share with the world how Jesus made me whole? I once was blind but now I see - do I share my testimony? 

Someone needs to hear what we have to say today. There's an individual that we will meet today who knows nothing about the gospel of Jesus Christ. So many that we come in contact with each day are hurting but they know nothing of the Healer we love. They are in a prison but know nothing of the Deliverer. We need to let people know about Jesus!

I cannot think of a song to add today, so I think I'll close and ponder some more on this subject.

God bless you all, and may your Thursday be tremendous. Find someone to share the good news with today.

Lord willing, I'll be back tomorrow with another spoonful!