And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter. (Mark 1:34-45)
Today's Morsel: Under the Old Testament law, lepers were outcasts. They were people who were to be separated from others. They were to be dressed in a certain way and to pronounce themselves as unclean. They were to live in colonies away from others. And if you were clean and you were to touch a leper, you would be classified as unclean as well. But Jesus violated all the laws when it came to people. What everyone was calling unclean and sinners, Jesus was willing to touch and to spend time with. Jesus saw everyone that the religious saw as unclean and a sinner as someone needing a physician. And He Himself, being the Chief physician, was moved with compassion when He saw them and responded to their requests. Jesus expressed His purpose for coming when He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19). When Jesus touched those lepers, they were delivered from their captivity. Maybe you are carrying around a besetting sin. A besetting sin is a sin that you just can't seem to get rid of; a sin that keeps plaguing, harassing and troubling you. If you have one of those, then why not cry out to Jesus for another touch and allow Him to cleanse you.
Sing: Lord, You know I need a brand new touch, my strength from yesterday is gone, but if you give me Lord another touch, I'll have the strength to carry on
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