"Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, "Master, if you want to, you can heal my body."
Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, "I want to. be clean." then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. Jesus said, "don't talk about this all over town. just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done."
~ matthew 8.1-4, the message
you see, we present ourselves to Christ to be saved from death and to be given life eternal. we offer ourselves to be changed by the One who changed the universe and His answer is always "Yes, I want to."
in Him, we are given new life. it's not that our weaknesses go away - no. heck, sometimes they even feel a bit bigger than before. but in Him we are given His partnership, His strength, His healing. in Him, we aren't alone.
but we are told not to shout about it all over town. (put down the bullhorn and walk away!) we are told to present our lives as a declaration of that Love Eternal and let that speak for itself. if we are living the life that Christ has called us to live, then there is no need for words. if we are living the life that Christ has called us to live, then we live in love and kindness, grace and mercy.
that's the kind of person i want to be. that's the kind of life i want to lead. that's what i call "christian".
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