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Luke 4:38-39
Simon, to whom Jesus would later give the name Peter (Luke 6:14) is the one whose house Jesus entered. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick, but we need to take notice of how her healing did not take place until they asked Jesus. Once they “made request of Him concerning her,” (Luke4:38b, NKJV) He healed her. “He rebuked the fever, and it left her” (Luke 4:39a). Simon’s mother-in-law “immediately” “arose and served them” (Luke:4:39b) shows that Jesus not only made her feel somewhat better, but she was instantly healed.
This is an example of the need to ask Jesus for His healing power to work in our lives.
Jesus never forced Himself on anyone, but He also never refused a request for healing and forgiveness. Jesus is everywhere all the time through His Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:18-20 states, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”
If we see someone in need, we can recognize that need and make the choice to act on giving them help, or not. Jesus always sees our deep need for forgiveness, but as humanity (Adam and Eve) made the free choice to allow sin into the world, humanity (we) must make the free choice to ask Jesus to set us free from sin. Jesus is there 24 hours a day waiting and longing for us to ask Him to cleanse us and set us free from sin, but we must realize that we will not be set free from sin unless we ask.
It is part of who God is to be fair and just. That is why we must ask God for His forgiveness. The Bible teaches us in Romans 10:9-10, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 6:10-11 declares, “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
To reckon ourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus is to make the choice for change in our lives. To recognize the sin in our lives and to turn from our sinful ways to follow Jesus and begin seeking His direction for our lives each day through prayer and study of His word. This is to put ourselves with other believers to support one another through our testimonies and callings given by God through our salvation in Christ Jesus.
By believing in Jesus, we are not simply saying the words; we are taking action to follow in His footsteps. We are making a commitment to love one another as He has first loved us (John 13:34-35). This takes true repentance with humility to Jesus (turning from a life of sin and living a new life in Christ Jesus). We learn in John 8:12, “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’” Believing in Him is to follow Him; to stop walking in darkness and begin walking in the light of life.
Dear Lord,
Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Jesus did the work of conquering sin for us and He offers the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life to us. Please prompt our hearts to ask and give us the sincerity to mean it. In Jesus name I pray, amen.