“I Am Willing”

Just after Jesus taught the Sermon on the Mount, a man sick with leprosy comes up to Him and asks a very poignant question, one that, if we are honest, we need to ask the Lord at some point in our walk. The story from Matthew 8:1-3 goes like this:

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

“I am willing.”

All the implications of what Jesus did here brings tears to my eyes. He touched him. Even before the man was cleansed, He touched him. Jesus could have healed the man with words alone. Oh! How I love this Man!

But then, before He says the words that heal the man of leprosy, Jesus speaks words that are so often forgotten in our Christian walk:

“I am willing.”

Do you hear Him today? Do you hear Him in the midst of  your current situation?

“I am willing.”

Let the thunder of His power (Job 26:14) echo inside you today. Allow Him to touch you while you are still unclean, so that He can cleanse you.

“I am willing.”

I’ve been noticing a trend lately: people are being drawn more and more to purity. Something inside of us LONGS for it, aches for it. We cry in the secret place where no one sees. But your Father in Heaven sees. Perhaps, just like the man with leprosy, we just need to take a chance and risk the rejection of others as we lunge into the full embrace of God.

He has a dream over your life. Maybe you’ve heard whispers of it. Maybe you’ve been keeping your ear to the door of heaven for a long time now, hoping to eavesdrop on His dreams for you. In either case, I want to tell you, tell me, remind us all of His words:

“I am willing.”