Today's Scripture:
~ Luke 5:17-26
~ Job 25-31
~Proverbs 7-8
*He searches the sources of the rivers and brings hidden things to light. - Job 28:11 (NIV)
Today, I found great fascination with my Lenten study. It had me reading out of Luke 5, which is the story of when Jesus heals a paralytic. The pharisees accuse Jesus of blasphemy because He is claiming to be able to forgive sins. As usual, Jesus answers with a question, "Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?" (Luke 5:23, NIV) So, obviously Jesus catches 'em off guard, and the people are all amazed and praising God for this miracle of healing this man. But, I find it interesting that Jesus forgives the man's sins before the healing comes. And that's exactly what my Lenten study was talking about. I would type it out for you if it weren't for copyright permissions.
One thing that the study presents is that our sin paralyzes us spiritually. The burden of it is so great that we try to hide it in every corner of our hearts, yet Jesus is able to come into our lives and forgive us of that sin and to heal us. That is what the Gospel is all about. God loves us enough to clean out our pantries and our messy desk drawers and our closets and underneath the bed where the we have kicked who-knows-what under there...In all those places of our hearts, God is willing to clean up the mess and restore it to new. Beware that God isn't always a collector of useless things. He will go in with the trash bags. But the multitude of sin will be forgiven and the healing will come.
However, it will always be in this order: Forgiveness, then healing. Always in love.
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