Thursday, January 11th
1 Sam. 4:1-11 Mark 1: 40-45
Theme: The mercy of God
In the gospel reading of today, from St. Mark Jesus heals the man suffering from leprosy. One of the interesting things about Jesus is the fact that he is always willing and ready to show mercy to the sick and all those who come to him with one form of need or the other. The story of the man suffering from leprosy in St. Marks gospel is one of such situations. He never sends anyone away, without attending to their needs. It is important to point out the fact that the man with leprosy had great faith that when he meets Jesus he will be restored to good health, and this is seen in his statement to Jesus. He said, “If you will, you can make me clean”, and Jesus said, “I will, be clean” and he was immediately restored to good health.
It is important to point out the fact that when we deal with God, there should be no doubt, whether he will do it for us or not. The man with leprosy had absolute faith in the ability of Jesus to restore him to good health, there was no place for doubt in his statement. The determination of the sick man is also worthy of emulation, he wanted to meet with Jesus at all costs. This is clear from the fact that he was able to stand with Jesus to make his request for healing.
Remember that during the time of Jesus, people with leprosy were isolated from other people. So, for him to have been able to struggle amongst the people to get to Jesus, he must have received a lot of insults and discrimination from the people following Jesus for one reason or the other. He refused to allow all that obstacle to make him give up, but rather insisted that he must get to Jesus, and when he eventually did, his problem was solved, and he was restored to good health.
These two wonderful attributes exhibited by the sick man, is a necessity when we deal with God, otherwise we may not get the opportunity to receive our request from God. You must never allow the situation around you to discourage you or make you give up at any point in time. Remain focused until your prayers are answered. At the end of the day, it is only the person who gives up that will lose. All you need to do is to trust in God, continue to do your best and be patient. May the Lord increase our faith, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, Amen. Peace be with you.