When Jesus Takes Your Hand

Mark 9:26b-27 " . . .The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, 'He's dead'. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet and he stood up."
The story is that of the boy with the evil spirit. This evil spirit has endangered the boy's life, throwing him into water or the fire in attempts to kill him. His father laments his helplessness to save his child. He wants to spare his boy from the assault of this evil spirit. The disciples have tried to cast it out but have been unsuccessful. The crowd swarms the Savior. In their midst are the teachers of the law, the boys father and the disciples. None could heal this boy, none but my Messiah. Nothing is too difficult for Him, no evil too powerful, no one too insignificant for His touch.

This is one of my favorite miracles. You see, we all once lived with evil. We allowed it to live in us. We lived to please ourselves and evil was our companion. Evil thoughts, evil deeds, evil results. Like all sin, big or little, it put us in danger, threatening to drown us in the ocean of worldliness and possession anxiety. It threatened to burn us alive and consume us with selfishness, lust and hunger for power and fame. Loved ones lamented our condition. There were those who out of concern, tried to rid our lives of the evil we'd embraced. But they were unsuccessful.

But Jesus came, He gave us a reason, He gave us a way, He gave us Salvation. He reached out and took us by the hand. He lifted us up and now we stand. We stand secure in our eternity, courageous in our walk, single-minded in our lifegoals. We stand with the faithful, ready to heal, ready to teach, ready to save. Evil no longer lives within us. We are no longer dead, no longer in danger. We stand healed, whole and hand in hand with Jesus.

Peace
Neva