Crowds Or People

Bumper Snicker: "I've taken a vow of poverty. To annoy me, send money."

Quote: "By compassion we make others' misery our own, and so, by relieving them, we relieve ourselves also." --Sir Thomas Browne

LOVING CROWDS MORE THAN PEOPLE

    When he (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 cured of his leprosy (Matthew 8:1-3 NIV).

Earlier verses tell us that Jesus had been speaking to large crowds and they followed Him as He came down from the mountainside. It would have been easy for Jesus to ignore individual faces in the sea of humanity surrounding Him. But when a man with leprosy knelt before Him wanting to be healed, Jesus immediately showed love and compassion by giving the man His complete attention. The man was not lost in the crowd. This scene becomes even more remarkable when Jesus reaches out and touches the man who was declared unclean and shunned by society.

You can draw comfort from knowing that among the billions of people on this earth, Jesus is aware of you, personally. He will never fail to see your face in the crowd. Even though Jesus died for a world of lost souls, He is your very personal Savior and Lord. From God's perspective, you will never be overlooked as just another face in the crowd. Oh what a valuable lesson each of us can learn from this passage.

All of us believers should love and pray for the untold millions of people around the world who need to hear the gospel message. But do we love that fellow worker, classmate, or neighbor down the street enough to pray specifically for that person and personally share Christ's love with him or her? Do we show our concern for the lost of the world by sitting in our easy chairs in front of our TVs and writing checks for missions or do we care enough to get up, get out, get going, and do missions by ministering to the unique personal needs of individuals? Obviously, praying for and giving to missions are wonderful things, but if we see only the masses, we may become calloused and indifferent to the needs of individuals all around us.

Right now, you may need healing or cleansing in some area of your life. If so, please remember that Jesus knows you personally, and stands ready to meet those needs just like He did for the man with leprosy. You are not lost in the crowd. Out of love He will stretch out His hand and touch you. Shouldn't we follow His example? Like Jesus, we should always love each person in the crowd separately and individually and make time to minister to their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. We must be careful that we don't love crowds more than people.

Love, Jerry & Dotse