The Sick Getting Well

Matthew 9:12-13 says, "But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

I had the privilege of baptizing two people today. That never gets old. One was a lady who was saved a little over a week ago. The other was her friend. I talked with him this morning before the service, and he told me that this particular lady had called him a week or so ago, and told him that she was tired of "taking pills" and living the life she was living, and asked him if he knew anybody she could talk to. He gave her the number of a man in our church who visits the local jail once a week. He knew the man from our church because he had spent some time in that particular "state-run institution".

That day, the man from our church told this woman about Jesus, and she gave her life to Christ. She then told her friend who had given her the number what happened, and when he saw what God had done for her, he too decided to give his life to Christ. I hope you got all that.

Neither of these two have lived morally majestic lives. They don't speak all the liturgical lingo, and they don't look like the people in the pictures on most church websites. Nevertheless, they both gave public testimony of their repentance and faith in Jesus.

As I watched them walking out of the baptistry, I thought about the kingdom of Christ, and how it is filled with sick folk who have been made well. My symptoms may not have been as obvious as others, but my condition wasn't any less terminal. I am thankful that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.

Praise God, the sick are getting well!