Jul 16

Mark 1:40-44
Memorise 1 John 3:16
“…He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked”

As you study God’s Word more and grow in your faith as a believer, you will also learn more about what God is like. Scripture reveals many aspects of God to us. God is certainly a God of judgment. God can be angry and we know how He hates sin and will not spare judgment until the sinner repents. We should fear God. Scripture also reveals to us a patient longsuffering God who is gentle and kind. He withholds chastisement and gives the sinner opportunities to repent. Today’s passage teaches us that God is a God of compassion. His heart aches when He sees someone suffering. The leper came to Jesus, knelt down and begged for Jesus to heal Him. In the day of Christ, lepers were considered unclean by the people and this was understandably so, because leprosy is a disease that is contagious in nature. Most people would have responded with disgust and shunned the leper. However, this was not what Christ did. We read that, Christ was moved with compassion by the leper who kneeled before Him. Mark recorded that not only did He not shun the leper, He did a thing that was most repulsive and unthinkable to the Jews – He “put forth his hand, and touched him”. Knowing that lepers were deemed unclean and had a very contagious disease, Christ nonetheless touched the leper. What love!

Do you feel for those in need? How far will you go to help someone who is in trouble or is in pain? It’s easy to help someone that you like. How about someone you do not like? Will you still extend your hand to help if he or she is in need? Christ loved the leper who was so repulsive to the common folk. In fact, in many ways, as unbelievers, we were completely undesirable ourselves. Yet Romans 5:8 tells us that God commendeth his love toward us while we were sinners. We were enemies to God and yet He loved us and saved us. Likewise, if Christ can love us sinners, we too should learn to love and show compassion to those who are not so loveable. If we recognise our true state and remember how Christ loved us despite that, it should humble us to feel more compassion for others. We are, after all, just sinners saved by grace.

Thought: We ought to love as Christ loved, to show compassion as He showed compassion.
Prayer: Father, help me to love others as Thou hast in Thy mercy loved me.