12 One day in one of the villages there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus he fell down before him in prayer and said, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”13 Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there his skin was smooth, the leprosy gone………………… 14-16 Jesus instructed him, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed self to the priest, along with the offering ordered by Moses. Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.” Luke 5:12-16
When Jesus spoke to this to the leper, He was giving a command meant to last the rest of the man’s life. Six months from now when the newness wears off, three years from now when the crowds are no longer paying attention to you, when your story become old hat, and everyone has heard it a dozen times………… yes, from now until the day you die, your cleansed and obedient life, not your healing, teaching, preaching, singing, leadership skills, or any other talent or ministry, but your humble obedience should bear witness of My work in your life..
Is your cleansed and obedient life reflecting Christ to others? Is your obedience humble or begrudging? Is your obedience barometer constantly changing, total obedience one day and questions and stipulations the next? Is your obedience based on your strength or His? Is your obedience automatic?
As a child I remember standing in church one Wednesday night to testify. I compared my life in Christ to being a puppet, and Jesus was pulling all the strings. And that’s the way my young heart thought it would be. I would always obey because He was controlling the strings. I grew to understand as a teen and adult that God wasn’t making me obey but allowing me to choose my words and actions. I kind of wish that childhood picture was true, but God didn’t create robots. He puts great confidence in His children and the power of the Holy Spirit to fill us with a love and desire to please Him. My obedience is based on my choices. This leper was being challenged to choose to obey for the rest of his life.
Father, thank You for loving me and giving me the choice and the power to choose to trust and obey. Thank You for Your continual cleansing of my thoughts and actions as I depend on Your strength. Help me not to question Your will and direction in my life, but to trust Your greater plan for me and humbly obey Your voice for the rest of my life.
Journey with Joyce 