“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
Even without a relationship to the LORD we may acknowledge his power. But he is not content to leave us this way. When we come into relationship with him we realize that he is for us, not against us, nor even indifferent (cf. Rom 8:31). We come to believe in his love for us (cf. 1 John 4:16).
“I will do it. Be made clean.”
It is true that this man has leprosy for years before he meets Jesus. But this doesn't mean that Jesus cares about him any less. The leper lives with his illness for so long that he comes to doubt that Jesus is concerned about it. This is a temptation we all face any time we suffer.
Abraham all but succumbs to this temptation when God's promise to him is delayed.
Abraham prostrated himself and laughed as he said to himself,
“Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?
And yet God heals the leper and blesses Abraham and Sarah with a child. What does the delay in answering mean? We does the God who can make us clean not always do so immediately? It is our opportunity to trust. It is our opportunity to love God for who he is even more than what he does.
If faith is the evidence of things unseen and the assurance of things hoped for (cf. Heb 11:1) then this is the only way we can express faith. Faith is the only way that God allows us to approach him in this world. Faith preserves the true integrity of our ability to choose to love him or not to love him. It gets past all of the mechanical factors of causation that would otherwise push us one way or the other. It ensures that loving God is never a Pavlovian response. With faith as the basis he is able to pour out blessings in the context of a loving relationship.
When God doesn't work like a vending machine we are tempted to insist on our own projects for securing the LORD's blessings as Abraham continues to do with Ishmael. But these are precisely the times when we must trust that he does will that we be made clean. If we continue to trust him we will one day experience all the blessings he promises (and yet regard him as more important to us than any of them). He is able to trust those who put him first with his blessings.
See how the Lord blesses those who fear him.
No comments:
Post a Comment