Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," he said. "Be healed!" And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Luke 5:13
As flawed human beings, we sometimes choose what kind of people deserve to be served. We choose people to serve based on whether we like them, if their needs are easy to meet, or if they deserve our service. While we tend to select those to serve, this was not the model Jesus showed us. You see, Jesus served everyone. He showed no favoritism or prejudice. Every person He encountered was valuable to Him.
One of the examples where we see Jesus serving those who were outcasts of society is found in Luke 5. In this chapter of Luke, a man with leprosy came to Him and said, "Lord… if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean" (verse 12). Now, most people would have run in the opposite direction of this man. He was very sick with leprosy and, as a result, was an outcast of society. Instead of running from this man or avoiding him, Jesus had compassion. He "reached out and touched him" and said, "I am willing… be healed" (verse 13). Do not miss the gravity of this moment. In a society where everyone avoided lepers, Jesus willingly touched this man and healed him. He served and loved everyone because He saw their worth and value. When Jesus touched the man with leprosy and said, "Be healed," He changed his life. Scripture tells us that "instantly the leprosy disappeared" (verse 13). Jesus served people and left them forever changed.
Jesus served and loved everyone. His service was not limited to a particular person. It was not exclusive. He served and loved the sick, outcasts, sinners, and everyone else He encountered. As He served all kinds of people with all kinds of backgrounds and stories, He showed His followers how to serve. Every single person we encounter is loved by God and is worthy and deserving of our service. May God give us hearts of compassion toward everyone, especially those who are viewed as outcasts and seem overlooked. Who can you serve today?
Who is someone who tends to get overlooked whom you can serve? Will you dare to reach out and serve them today? What steps can you take this week to serve them? Commit to taking those steps starting this week. As you commit to serve, ask God to give you compassion and love for everyone, especially those who are overlooked or avoided.
Luke 5:27-32
27 Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. 28 So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
29 Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. 30 But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?”
31 Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. 32 I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.”
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