Reach Out & Touch Someone

Have you ever been desperate for anything? I know I have been before. There's something about people in a desperate state; they don't give a rip what people think of them. Jesus came across many people who were desperate. On one such occasion, Jesus encountered this scenario:

Mark 1:40-41

⁴⁰A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."

⁴¹Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" ⁴²Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

Leprosy? Yuck! How could you touch someone with a disease like leprosy? Just to emphasize the gross factor of the disease a little, here are some facts about it.

Its symptoms start in the skin and peripheral nervous system (outside the brain and spinal cord), then spread to other parts, such as the hands, feet, face, and earlobes. Patients with leprosy experience disfigurement of the skin and bones, twisting of the limbs, and curling of the fingers to form the characteristic claw hand. Facial changes include thickening of the outer ear and collapsing of the nose.

Jesus freely touched people with leprosy. While people with leprosy traditionally suffered banishment from family and neighbors, Jesus broke from the tradition. He treated lepers with compassion, touching and healing them. - From an article entitled " Biblical Leprosy: Shedding Light on the Disease that Shuns by Dr. Alan Gillen, a biology professor at Liberty University as found on http://www.answersingenesis.org

Jesus reached beyond the social norm, and touched lepers anyway, regardless of their disfigurement or social stigma. So it begs the questions who has God placed in your path that you've deemed "untouchable"?

It's time for all of us who call ourselves Christian to start following the pattern of Christ in a very visible and tangible way, so that others who are searching will see more than just a 1 day a week religion.

What are we afraid of? Once we were untouchable, unlovable because of our sin. Thank you God that you sent Jesus to touch and love me anyway! It's time to touch the untouchables.