A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.”  Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose.  Be made clean!”  Mark 1:40-41

Everybody gets dirty.

Everybody sins and messes up.  Everybody gets tainted by the ways of the world.

Even you.

So what are you gonna do about it?

1. You could pretend to be clean.  You know, strut around and laugh and act like you’ve never gotten dirty before.  You could pretend that you don’t have problems, or issues, or sins.

But that’s not gonna help.

2. You could give in to your unclean ways and dive right into the mud and muck–and let the dirt rule your life.

You could major in Sin with a minor in “who cares”.

But that’s the road to ruin.

3. You could just live with your predicament.   Not exactly filthy, but not really ready to get cleaned up, either.  Kind of stuck-in-the-mud.

But you’ll never grow that way.

4. What you COULD do, is to be like the leper in the scripture above.

He recognized Jesus in his midst, he came forward, acknowledging his predicament, and he asked for help.

More than just asking for help–he displayed a trust in Jesus.

He displayed faith.

“If you choose you can make me clean.”

And Jesus is moved.  He heals the man.

We read this as if it’s an isolated miracle in the bible.  Not so.  This happens all the time.

It happens anytime someone reaches out with faith to Christ.

Even you.

Have a good week,

Mitch