Multitudes of souls are suffering emotionally, physically, and mentally. In one sense, they are victims of a bad environment; be it family, friends, or extreme poverty. In another sense, they are the victims of their foolish, reckless, and unimaginable choices that poison the soul with depravity. In any case, the pain and suffering experienced is agonizing, heart-breaking, and devastating to one’s psyche.
I am reminded of an illustration of a dog which had been brutally beaten, scolded and tossed into a road-side ditch. This dog had never experienced love or affection from its’ master. When someone saw the poor dog, having compassion on the dog, he walked down into the ditch to give it aid. When the person touched the dog, it immediately snapped and growled at the one offering comfort and healing for its’ wounds.
Many feel insignificant, unwanted, unloved and dirty. Only a touch from the One who came to love the unlovely, unlikable, and unattractive, the lepers of society, can raise the walking corpse to life. “Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him and saying to Him, ‘If you are willing, You can make me clean.’” Matt. 8:2-3 The leper knew the feeling of being a social outcast; diseased with sores, unattractive and rejected. Longing, if you will, to be touched or even kissed.
French author, Francois Mauriac, writes in his short story “A Kiss for the Leper”, of the main protagonist, Jean Peloueyne, who was an ugly looking young man. His existence was barren and solitary, but because his family was wealthy, he was given a beautiful wife, Noemie. Her husband’s body was repulsive to her. He said such things as; “My heart is even uglier than my face.” He had a feeling of self-contempt, knowing himself to be stupid and an object of universal mockery. His whole being was made to be trampled underfoot, his wretchedness exceeded his hope. Not long after his marriage, he became deathly sick. Noemie had a change of heart during his suffering. She would get up at night and go over to his bed “and kiss him, as souls once upon a time were in the habit of kissing lepers”.
I wonder how many can identify in some form or another with Jean Peloueyne. Or with how the leper felt – a social outcast from family, friends and community. This kind of thinking can lean one into the dungeon of Giant Despair. (Pilgrim’s Progress)
Jesus sees your plight. He knows the pain and suffering that you are experiencing. Have you thought about doing what the leper did; kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”?
Make a list of what you need to be cleansed from. Ask forgiveness for your part in the dirtying of your soul. Forgive those who have dirtied your soul with anger, bitterness and resentment. Look unto Jesus. We read in the text, Mark 1:41 – 42; “Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him; ‘I am willing, be cleansed.’ And, as soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.”
Do you want to be cleansed from your particular leprosy? Run to Jesus; He is waiting for you. He loves you deeply, has compassion on you, and is ready to cleanse you once and for all. Come to Him, just as you are. “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling. Naked, come to Thee for dress; helpless, look to Thee for grace. Foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.” (Rock of Ages, Augustus Toplady)
God is moving miraculously in this ministry. Let us know how God has touched you.
