(We had the privilege of having Dr. B. J. Pruitt, our apostolic covering and father in the faith, with us this week. Here are some thoughts based on what he shared with us this week.)
Malachi 3:6-7 (NKJV) 6 “For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the LORD of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’
In today’s scripture we find that Israel has once again fallen away from the ways of God. It would seem that they did not really understand how far they had fallen this time. It seemed that everything was all right. God reminds them of his unchanging nature of love and mercy and tells them that his nature is the only reason they had not already been destroyed.
For two generations they had gradually let more and more things slip. He says “from the days of your fathers you have gone away from my ordinances.” I think this is a very clear picture of what we have seen in our country and the church over that last few decades. We have gradually allowed things that used to be important become unimportant. Things that used to be looked down upon in the church and in the world are now accepted.
The situation in Israel had come to the point where God could no longer allow it to continue. He is speaking this way to them because his mercy was close to running out. They were heading down a path that could only result in destruction. God did not want that for his people and he still does not. God describes how far they had fallen later in the chapter.
Malachi 3:14-15 (NKJV) 14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners Before the LORD of hosts? 15 So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’ ”
I think we can see the resemblance to our own times in their words. Neither they nor we got to this point overnight. It took many years. Now God must say to Israel, “If something does not change, bad things will result.” I think he is saying the same to us.
When confronted with these strong words the people did not seem to show a heart of repentance. “How are we supposed to turn back to you?” To my ears, this sounds like self justification. “What have we done that’s so bad? We’re alright. We aren’t sinners like other people.” That is probably how we sound to God.
When we allow things to degrade gradually, we do not recognize how far we are from God’s best until it is too late. In Israel’s day, they were facing yet another round of destruction. In our day, we find that we do not see the power of god the way we used to see it. We do not hear of healings and miracles the way our fathers in the faith saw them. People are not sensitive to the things of God the way they once were. Where the church used to be the standard for righteousness and holiness for the world, we have become a reflection of worldliness with little power or character to separate us from everyone else.
I believe we need what Israel needed. We need to return to God. We need to get back to foundational beliefs. We need to lay aside the sins and the weights that keep us from being the city set on a hill that Jesus said we should be. (Hebrews 12:1 and Matthew 5:14) We need to let our light shine brightly once again so the world will be drawn to Jesus.
Let us look at someone who determined to return to the Lord so she could see her need met by him.
Mark 5:25-29 (NKJV) 25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. 28 For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” 29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.
This is a familiar story. This woman had suffered 12 years with this problem. No doctor had been able to help her. I am speculating, but if she could afford all those doctors, she must have been well off financially. She spent all she had trying to get better. Then she heard about Jesus.
The stories she heard about this miracle-working prophet brought hope to her weary heart. Faith rose in her that if she could get to him everything would change. “If I can just touch the hem of his garment I will be healed.” There was nothing magical about the hem of Jesus garment. She just knew she had to get to where he was.
There are some things we need to realize about her illness. When a woman was experiencing her monthly cycle, she was considered unclean. She was not to be out in public. She could not approach holy things. To touch a priest during this time could result in stoning. Her issue of blood was not the regular monthly flow all women experience, it was her condition all the time. She was always unclean.
If she was out in public, she was obligated to make sure everyone knew that she was unclean. Her plan was to push her way through a crowd of people and touch the hem of a prophet’s garment. The risk she was taking is hard for us to understand but what she did could have cost her life. That did not matter to her since her condition would have killed her anyway. Still, it shows how desperate she was to get to where Jesus was.
In addition to the risk involved in getting to Jesus was the matter of her condition itself. She was losing blood consistently. She would have been very weak. She was probably bed ridden. What kind of effort would it have taken to muster the strength to get out of bed and walk to where Jesus was going to pass by?
Once she found where he was, she realized that he was surrounded by a crowd of people. The ruler of the synagogue was with him and he was obviously headed somewhere with this important man. It would have been easy for her to be discouraged. However, she was desperate. She would not give up.
She must have been very tired by the time she reached the street but she mustered all the strength she had left and began working her way through the crowd. Jesus did not stop until she finally touched his garment. What a monumental effort it took to reach him. No wonder she could only touch the hem of his garment. By the time she got to him, she probably could no longer stand.
The result of her effort was complete healing. Imagine what this meant to her. Not only was her body healthy again, but she was no longer unclean. Her life was given back to her. How?
She “returned to the Lord.” I do not know where you are. I know that I need to see more of the Lord in my town. I need to see God show himself strong once again in my nation and in the World. How can that happen. I believe we need to be where he is.
Just as this woman pushed through weaknesses and danger to get to where Jesus was, we need to push through sin, laziness and the opposition of the world to get to where he is now. We cannot wait for him to come to us. He is waiting for us to return to him. Then and only then will we see what we need to see to change our world.
Just as the woman received both healing and the restoration of her life, I believe we can see the power of God restored to the church so we can bring physical, emotional and spiritual healing to the world. The only question is whether we will show the same desperation and diligence this women showed.
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