This young girl was dying, and yet Jesus stopped to tend to this woman's needs and hurts. It is so easy to get caught up in thinking that God has bigger things to worry about than me. Crime, war, and everything going on in the world, how could God see my hurts and needs and take time to heal them? But that is just it; he wants to! God delights in me and wants to heal me and cleanse me. I am precious in His sight which is something that amazes me. Have you ever stopped to think that the Creator of the Universe, the Holy One, the God Almighty, the Savior, the Redeemer, the Rock of our Salvation, DELIGHTS in us? It blows my mind every time I think about it. Nothing I have done earned it. It is freely given because He created me. God loves me and wants to use His time to heal and cleanse me.
Beth talked about how Jesus has made himself available to grab onto and that no matter how unclean we are, we can never get Jesus dirty. He is the ultimate Mr. Clean. She mentioned in her message Hebrews 10:19-23 but when I went back to read it, I continued to read until verse 31. It gave me a completely new outlook on Hebrews 10:24-25 which says
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
I have always read these verses and thought that it was all about fellowship and just hanging out and encouraging other believers. But after reading it in the context, I have discovered a new truth about fellowship and the type of encouragement that we are to give. Verses 19-23 talk about how we can approach God and be cleaned from a guilty conscience and be washed pure. In verses 26-31 it talks about how we should not keep sinning after we know the truth because it would be rejecting the grace offered us by the Spirit.
29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace.So in context of all of this, I realize that verses 24-25 are really about holding each other accountable and truly about the relationship that you have with someone who will ask you the tough questions. Someone who will ask how they can help me pursue righteousness, holiness, and purity and how I can help them as well. It says that some are in the habit of not meeting and I think I know why. It isn't natural to want your dirty laundry aired before anyone. Beth said, "The things we have the greatest need for healing are the deepest secrets of our hearts. We are as sick as our secrets." How can we be healed if we wont bring them before the Healer and have someone who will walk with us to the Doctor's office?
We have to have someone who will help challenge us and keep us accountable to our thoughts and actions; who will pray for us desperately before God. We have been sanctified by the blood of Christ and should be pursing the righteousness and holiness of our Savior who gives us the Spirit of grace. Also, do our actions help others around us? I've been thinking a lot about purity recently and I know that sometimes my actions have not helped mine or those around me. Luckily I have a Lord who will and does convict me of my sin, even if it is painful and I don't want to admit that something is wrong.
I think that when we keep our sin a secret, it is the ultimate prideful act. To make it seem like we are above confession means that we are saying we have no need of a savior. For us to say we are saved means to humbly admit that were lost.
Back to the woman who reached out to Jesus. Faith inspired the touch that brought healing. Is my faith or your faith strong enough to reach out to the Healer in order to receive the healing that we so desperately need? Do I trust God enough to willingly give him my dirty laundry, blackened by my sin, and have Him wash them white as snow?
