And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. –Mark 2:16, 17 (KJV)
Down through the years I have had the opportunity to minister to a number of troubled people. My hope and prayer is that I have been able to point them to Jesus Christ, for only though faith in Him can true peace and stability in life be attained. One such person that stands out in my memory is a man named Jerry.* He and I were co-workers many years ago at a company I worked for in Ohio before I began preaching and doing vocational ministry. Jerry was a drug addict and an alcoholic, but somehow managed for a time to keep working and putting forth at least a pretense of having his life together, which he clearly did not. I tried to encourage Jerry to seek the Lord and let Him provide the strength and power to overcome the addiction that was tearing his life apart. Sadly, those demons of addiction began to get the best of Jerry, and despite my efforts to keep in touch with him he lost his job and drifted away.
There are people like Jerry all around us. They are the people who Jesus described as being in need of a physician, although in this case that physician is the Great Healer, Jesus Christ. As I stated in yesterday’s blog, sin is the sickness and Jesus is the cure. Through faith in Him the most troubled and hopeless soul can find deliverance, forgiveness, and a completely new outlook on life. No doubt there is a Jerry in your life. He might be a son, brother, friend, neighbor, or co-worker. Are we willing to reach out in Jesus’ name to the sin-sick people of the world and introduce them to the one that is capable of bringing healing to their lives? This is a vital part of the call of God in Christ in our lives, that we shine the light of Jesus to those walking in the darkness of sin.
Those in need of the healing Jesus provides will often times try our patience, stretch our grace reserves, and sometimes leave us wondering if we have made a difference at all. My friends, remember that sharing the love of Jesus with a lost soul is always time well-spent. Such endeavors are never wasted, for the gospel can take root in peoples’ lives and touch them in ways we may not see for a long time.
Remember to pray for some lost soul today. Reach out in the name of Jesus. Someone in your life is in need of the lifeline only Jesus can provide.
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