The scripture for today, August 2 (8/2), is Matthew 8:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lor if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.’ “
People in Jesus’ day who had leprosy had to live outside of town in what we would call a leper colony. And if someone without leprosy started getting close to them, they were required to call out, “Unclean! Unclean!”
But here was a man who apparently pushed his way through a crowd where he didn’t belong. He didn’t ask Jesus if he could heal him; he asked if he was willing to. After all, he was “unclean”. Remarkably, Jesus said yes.
Then Jesus did another remarkable thing: He touched the man. He touched the leprosy. Not only was he willing to be seen with an unclean man, he was willing to touch him.
Jesus still does this today. When we come to him with a diseased heart wondering if we are good enough, Jesus reaches out across the centuries and touches us. And his voice echoes across the centuries and says, “I am willing.”
No matter how much sin mars your life, Jesus still today can say, “Be clean.”
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“This is the one about whom it is written: ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ “
“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him [Jesus] because he always lives to intercede for them.”
“When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning.”
The scripture for today, July 12 (7/12), is Revelation 7:12 in the New Testament of the Bible:
The scripture for today, July 11 (7/11), is Matthew 7:11 as found in the New Testament of the Bible.
“My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.”
“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.”
“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.”