March 14, 2016
My Personal Space
Read:
Luke
8:40-48
We
do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses. — Hebrews 4:15
An industrial design graduate from a Singapore university was
challenged in a workshop to come up with a novel solution to a common problem
using only ordinary objects. She created a vest to protect one’s personal space
from being invaded while traveling in the crush of crowded public trains and
buses. The vest was covered with long, flexible plastic spikes normally used to
keep birds and cats away from plants.
Jesus knew what it was like to lose His personal space in the
commotion of crowds desperate to see and touch Him. A woman who had suffered
from constant bleeding for 12 years and could find no cure touched the fringe
of His robe. Immediately, her bleeding stopped (Luke 8:43-44).
Jesus’ question, “Who touched me?” (v. 45) isn’t as strange as
it sounds. He felt power come out of Him (v. 46). That touch was different from
those who merely happened to accidentally touch Him.
While
we must admit that we do sometimes wish to keep our personal space and privacy,
the only way we help a world of hurting people is to let them get close enough
to be touched by the encouragement, comfort, and grace of Christ in us.
Lord Jesus, I want to be near You and know You
so that when I’m in contact with others they can see You through me.
A Christian’s life is the window through which others can see
Jesus.
INSIGHT:
Luke recounts several miracles in quick
succession. First, Jesus calms a storm while out in a boat on the sea (Luke
8:22–25). Then when the boat reaches the other side of the sea, Jesus heals a
man possessed by demons (vv. 26–39). Finally, Luke records that while going to
heal the daughter of Jairus, a synagogue leader, Jesus heals a woman who had
been suffering from bleeding for years (vv. 40–48). In the end, Jesus brings
Jairus’s daughter back to life (vv. 48–56). This series of miracles shows that
nothing—nature, spirits, health, even life and death—is outside of Jesus’s
power and authority.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2016
