“When will the lockdown end? Social distancing will have to continue for months”. We hear these things everyday. And even though we are social distancing we need to be reaching out more than ever. How can we? Lets look no further than Jesus.
Matthew 8:1-3 “When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, 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 cleansed of his leprosy.”
The social distancing these lepers had enforced on them was far more than what we are experiencing today. The whole of their lives were self-isolation. Leprosy, like the coronavirus, had social implications as well as physical implications. But here, Jesus reaches out, when everyone else was pulling away in fear.
Now, I’m not saying that we therefore ignore the social distancing rules and physically go out to people. Jesus didn’t spread contamination, but spread cleanness and purity. Whereas we should and we need to listen to the government advice. But in lockdown we can still reach out. We might not be able to go into people’s homes, but Jesus can go into peoples homes by us telling them about Him.
If we don’t have the burden to reach out now, when will we?
- People are weary, Jesus says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened.”
- People are anxious, Jesus says, “‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life.”
- People are thirsty for lasting satisfaction, Jesus says, “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.”
- People are still falling for the false promises of the world, Jesus is all He said He would be. He is the “Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
Read the words of this hymn (by ‘City Alight’) with me as we see just how good Jesus is, and that is the Jesus we can and must offer to people at this time:
Come you weary heart now to Jesus
Come you anxious soul now and see
There is perfect love and comfort in your tears
Rest here in His wondrous peace
Chorus
Oh the goodness, the goodness of Jesus
Satisfied, He is all that I need
May it be, come what may, that I rest all my days
In the goodness of Jesus
Come find what this world cannot offer
Come and find your joy here complete
Taste the living water, never thirst again
Rest here in His wondrous peace
Come and find your hope now in Jesus
He is all He said He would be
Grace is overflowing from the Saviour’s heart
Rest here in His wondrous peace
Lloyd
Elisabeth Jones says
Thank you Lloyd – a timely reminder to share the Good News whenever, wherever we can . I will try to do that today.
Tilde says
That’s a great hymn; yes good news indeed that is the answer to all our needs, and the needs of those around us.