Ramesh C. Reddy
Publisher
Editors note: These devotionals are taken
from the PS archives and are based
on the time I spent with the Lord in His Word. I wanted to share them with you
this summer of 2005 from the Gospel of Mark! Revisions have been made!
"Jesus then told him
sternly, "Go and be examined immediately by the Jewish priest. Don't
stop to speak to anyone along the way. Take along the offering
prescribed by Moses for a leper who is healed, so that everyone will
have proof that you are well again" (Mark 1:43-44)
Observations:
I asked myself what are
the commands Jesus gave the man and how did He do it?
Jesus gave the man couple of commandments
sternly:
1. Go and be examined
immediately by the Jewish priest.
2. Don't stop to speak to
anyone along the way.
3. Take the offering
prescribed by Moses for a leper who is healed.
Observations/Interpretations:
Point 1:
Go and be examined immediately by the Jewish priest.
I see Jesus being obedient to Scripture and
telling the man who was healed from leprosy to take along the offering
prescribed by Moses. This is very relevant in that Jesus wants the man
to follow what we consider to be part of the Old Testament (Leviticus
14). When we become Christians, we cannot ignore reading the Old
Testament because we feel we are under the New Covenant. The Old
Testament is Scripture and God uses His entire Word to speak to us. It
is important to realize that if Jesus said something in the New
Testament that should take precedent though. Because of what Jesus did
for us by dying on the cross and coming back to life to save us we can
do away with sacrificial animal offerings and we are not bound under the
law but bound by grace! This however does not mean we can go along
sinning because we are not bound by the law. (Romans 6)
Point 2:
Don’t stop to speak to anyone along the way.
It is implied by the offering that God should be
thanked by the man before he does anything else including telling other
people what happened to him. When the Lord answers our prayers it is so
important to go to the Lord and thank Him for what He has done for us
before going to anyone else.
Point 3:
Take the offering prescribed by Moses for a leper who is healed.
There can be a tendency to pray and accept God's
answer and not take the time to offer our praises to Him. God inhabits
the praises of His people. Even though we have done away with
sacrificial offerings we can still praise the Lord with our lips and
bring the sacrifice of praise unto the house of the Lord.
Observations:
I asked myself what the man healed from leprosy
did?
"But as the man went on
his way he began to shout the good news that he was healed; as a result,
such throngs soon surrounded Jesus that he couldn't publicly enter a
city anywhere, but had to stay out in the barren wastelands. And people
from everywhere came to him there" (Mark 1:45)
As the man went on his way presumably to the
Jewish priest, he disobeyed Jesus and began to shout the good news that
he was healed.
I asked myself what were
the results of the man's disobedience?
1. Because of the man's disobedience such
throngs surrounded Jesus.
2. Jesus couldn't publicly enter a city
anywhere.
3. Jesus had to stay in the barren wastelands.
4. People from everywhere had to come to Jesus.
Implications:
We also see the consequences of the man's
disobedience in the lives of others. I realized long time ago that my
actions and reactions have an effect on other people's lives too. When I
am disobedient and do wrong, I not only hurt myself but those around me
can be affected too. This is what the man caused.
We do not think about it this way very much but
the man's actions caused problems to Jesus that he could not publicly
enter a city anywhere but had to stay in the barren wastelands and
people had to come to him.
If the man just obeyed and did what Jesus told
him to, Jesus could have still been there and it would have been much
easier on the people there too without having to go search for Jesus. It
is important to realize what we do in our private lives when no one is
looking can affect our public ministry or the lives of others! (Achan is
an example from the Old Testament)
I ask you now dear friend,
what do your actions cause?
Dear friend, our actions can either glorify the
Lord or bring dishonor to the Lord. Our actions can make people want to
know more about Jesus or they can turn people away from Jesus thinking
if this is what Christianity is all about, I don’t want to have any part
in it. Sometimes the right actions done at the wrong times can cause
problems too. There was nothing wrong with the man letting others know
that he was healed but the problem was the timing and the disobedience
of the man. Jesus specifically told him not to speak to anyone else. The
man decides to go his own way anyway.
This too brings to mind how ungrateful we can be
many times. Jesus heals the man and then the man goes right ahead and
disobeys Jesus. We are guilty of that too. Jesus does so many things for
us and yet we find ways to disobey him just because it pleases us to do
what we want. This only causes heart ache for the Lord.
We have the opportunity to let the Lord be
glorified and not cause grief to the Lord by our actions, so let us hold
on to the faith and love the Lord Jesus has given us and hope in Him as
we travel the journey of life.
Christ Asks Us, Serve
Eagerly! (C.A.U.S.E/"What do your actions
cause?"
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus I thank you so much because of how
much you love us. You love us so much that you give us commandments for
our own good. Lord there are times your commandments are hard to follow
because they seem like they deprive us of the fun we want but Lord deep
inside I know you know what is best for us at all times. I know you will
never ask us to do anything that will not be for our good in the long
run. Forgive us Lord and help us Oh God of our Salvation for the glory
of your Name and deliver us and provide us with your help always for the
glory of your Name. Thank you so much Lord Jesus that you have provided
atonement for our sins for your Name's sake and have given us your Word.
We bring our sacrifice of praise unto the House of the Lord. We are
sorry when we cause pain in other people's lives because of our actions.
We are also sorry when we do not thank you. I thank you Jesus for
forgiving us and answering our prayers. Thanks we can come to you. In
Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
Love in Christ,
Ramesh
P.S.. If you need someone to talk to, pray with,
or study the Bible, you can email me at
reddy4hisglory2004@yahoo.com and we can set up a time that is
convenient for you! You can also call me at 412-720-4579
