A Deliberate Touch

Matt. 9:18-26; Mark 5:24-34; Luke 8:40-48

Do you remember the old commercial that said, “Reach out, reach out and touch someone?”  There’s a story in Luke 8 of a woman who had an issue of blood.  She determined that is she could get close enough to reach out and touch Jesus, even if it was just His garment, she could be healed.  Sure enough, that’s what she did.  And miraculously, she was healed.  At the moment it happened, Jesus responded with “who touched me?”  The disciples were a little sarcastic and said, “Lord, everybody is pushing, shoving and bumping into each other and you want to know who touched you?” (that’s the Terry translation!)  Jesus said this wasn’t that kind of touch.  This was a deliberate touch.  This word “deliberate” means “considered carefully.”  I wonder what the woman had considered about her situation.  Well maybe it was that she was tired of the ordinary.  Her life had been consumed for 12 years with this blood problem.  That was her ordinary life.  She had spent all she had on Dr.’s and didn’t get better.  She was tired of the ordinary.  Maybe she had gotten a vision of the future.  She said, “If I can but touch the hem of his garment, I will be made whole.”  She saw herself whole and well.  Once she was tired of the ordinary and got a vision of the future, it was time for her to act.  She first had to push through the crowd.

Maybe you, like this woman, have reached the point where you are tired of the ordinary.  You’ve gotten a vision of what your future could be like.  Remember, everybody will not be happy for your decision to change.  Even if you are committing your life to the Lord, everybody won’t support you in that.  You may have to fight through the crowd.  Secondly, the woman had to get close enough to touch Him.  It’s not enough to be in close proximity.  You’ve got to get close enough to touch Him.  Too many people are like Peter after the Lord’s arrest.  The scripture says that he “followed afar off.”  That didn’t work then and it won’t work now.  You’ve got to get close enough to touch Him and for Him to touch you.  Lastly, it was her faith that did the work.  Her thinking to touch Him, her willingness to view her future, her willingness to fight the crowd and her tenacious attitude to not settle short but to get close enough, all were part of her faith that ended up changing her life.

So the next time your life gets in a rut and you’re tired of the ordinary, just view your future through the eyes of faith, be willing to fight the crowd, never settle to come up short, and get close enough to touch and be touched.  Hey, I say it’s about time you reach out and touch someone!  Hey, it’s just a thought!

7 Ducks In A Pond

2 Kings 5:1-19

I remember as a pre-teen being challenged by an evangelist during revival to go home and look in my Bible to see if I could find where it talks about 7 ducks in a pond.  I went home and with my parents help, looked in concordances and study helps to find everything I could, concerning ducks.  I couldn’t find 7 ducks anywhere in the Bible.  The evangelist was clever.  Because of a slight play on words, he had caused me to dive into the Word of God.  Well, the ducks weren’t animals, but an action taken by a man named Naaman.  You see Naaman had leprosy.  It was a dreaded disease.  He had been told the way to be healed was to dip 7 times in the Jordan River.  Do you get it now?  He had to “duck” 7 times into the water.  Naaman was upset and didn’t want to do it.  He thought the man of God would have done something special for him to be healed.  By the way, the Jordan River wasn’t that clean and who would want to dip 7 times in that?  How many times have we failed to receive from God simply because we didn’t want to do what He said or we thought our way was better? 

Well, from studying about Naaman, I found some important things that might help us along our journey of life.  Thing #1 is “stuff happens”.  Naaman was a mighty warrior and probably thought he was invincible and nothing would happen to him.  Listen, we all think our life will be the one without trouble or tragedy.  We just need to remember, that stuff happens.  We don’t choose it, but rather it chooses us.  It is not necessarily a punishment, but just the fact that stuff happens.  Thing #2 is “know where to go for help”. When Naaman got leprosy, somebody in his household told him what he needed to go to the prophet of God because he could help.  When stuff happens in our lives, we need to know the right place to go.  Take it to God.  He is a present help in time of trouble.  Thing #3 is “be obedient”.  Naaman didn’t like what the prophet said, but once he was obedient, he got what he needed.  I like the words of Jesus own mother in John 2:5, “…whatever he says unto you, do it.”

So when stuff happens in your life, remember where to go and be obedient to what you’re told, even if you have to duck 7 times in a nasty pond.  YUCK!   Hey, it’s just a thought!