READING: Mark 2
TEXTS AND APPLICATION: I’m sick. You’re sick. Every person in the world is sick. Every person who has ever lived, with the exception of Jesus, has been sick. And, anyone yet to be born will be sick. All of us need a doctor.
By “sick,” I mean, of course, “sinful.” All of us are sinners in need of redemption. We cannot work our way back to pleasing God. We cannot design our own plan to fix this problem. We cannot read enough books, do enough Google searches, or talk to enough people to overcome our sin illness. Sick people can’t heal themselves.
That’s why it’s so important that Jesus came to us. We were sick, and He was wiling to be the cure:
Mark 2:17 He told them, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
What’s challenging to me is the fact that the God we sinned against is the God who took the initiative to fix our problem. The “doctor” who made the house call to Levi’s house in Mark 2 will take our sin disease upon Himself in Mark 15 so we might become well. He will heal us by His death.
I suspect that many of us have forgotten just how sick we were without Jesus. Consequently, we take for granted the miracle of God’s plan to redeem us: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, eats with sinners. More importantly, He died for sinners.
And that’s the simple, straightforward, life-changing gospel. Let’s not take it for granted today.
ACTION STEPS: Think about inviting several unchurched friends to your home for dinner in the next few weeks. Love them, and seek a way to begin telling them the story of Jesus.
PRAYER: “God, I’m guilty of forgetting how lost I was. I need your help to remind me of my spiritual lostness so I can once again appreciate your grace and tell others about you.”
TOMORROW’S READING: John 5