So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. (Mark 1:31, NIV 1984)
In a trip to the range last week with two strong players who compete on the high school team I coach, I was pleased to find an old friend there, working on his own game. We talked for a while and, forever an inquisitive athlete, my friend loved just standing and watching these young players, asking what it was that allowed them to hit the ball so far with so little apparent effort.
When my players had worked through their range balls and went off to spend time chipping, I observed my friend for a minute and gave him a quick tip. Simple, too: Widen your stance. He ripped the next ball long and straight.
The proof, of course, would have to come in the days ahead. It wouldn’t mean much for any of us to “get fixed” with one swing on the range, then pack up our clubs, head home and never take our better game to the course.
In the opening chapter of Mark’s gospel, the writer recounted an episode at Peter’s house, where the apostle’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. Jesus was told of her illness and he moved with intent to heal her. As he took her hand and helped her from the bed, her fever vanished. She was healed.
But that is only the beginning of the story, so to speak. For in the next moments she began to wait on the disciples there, as any woman of the house at that time would have considered it her duty—and often her joy—to do.
Where is the lesson in that? Just this: Often we stop too abruptly in our reception of what God really wants for us.
Consider the man caught in a cycle of impure thoughts or attraction to pornography. The prayer of such a man, sometimes voiced in an accountability setting, may sound like this: “Lord, take away these lustful thoughts of mine. Do not allow me to see women in this disrespectful, sinful way.”
God will honor such a prayer. But that man must recognize that God wants so much more for him. What God wants is for that man to see women as sisters in the Lord or as God’s children still needing to come to Jesus. This is a mindset far beyond “not lusting.” This is going from healed to waiting on others in godly service.
Here’s more. Greed must move all the way to generosity, laziness all the way to excellence and service, anger all the way to peacemaking. You name it, God wants to take us past the healing into the role of one who is completely healthy. We often see only the first phase and call it the miracle. We need to keep our eyes and our hearts open to so much more.
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Jeff Hopper
May 23, 2012
Copyright © 2012 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday through Friday at www.linksplayers.com.