A Response to Healing

I’ve been working my way through the Bible using The Bible Recap for a while and I have enjoyed it even more than I thought that I would. I’m currently reading through the Gospels and even though I’ve read them before, I’m noticing things that I hadn’t before — which is no surprise since the Word of God is living and active (Heb. 4:12). Toward the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, He heals Simon’s mother-in-law. I’ve read the account multiple times, but something about her really stuck out to me this time. The account is pointing to the divine power of Jesus, but we can learn something very important from this woman who isn’t even mentioned by name.

We can find an account of this woman’s healing in Mark 1:29-31 which says, “And immediately he [Jesus] left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.” We are not given much detail of the severity of her illness, but she had a fever and had seemingly been lying down. Jesus is told of her illness, so He goes and takes her by the hand, lifts her up while simultaneously healing her from whatever illness she had. Jesus miraculously healed her and her response is to begin serving Him and the others that were with Him.

The response to serve Jesus upon healing is one that I think we — as believers — should have. His touch healed her physical illness and His touch heals our spiritual illness too. This idea that when we’ve been touched by Jesus — when He heals us physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually — our response is to serve Him comes from a place of love and reverence for Him. John 3:16 is quite well known, “‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” The verse that comes immediately following it might be less well known, but it’s important to remember. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Jesus is after our hearts. He is eager to heal us. He is quick to forgive us when we ask Him to and He is longing to save us. Jesus didn’t come to condemn us and leave us without any hope of reconciliation — He came to save us. He came to show us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6). He came for the sick, for sinners just like you and me (Lk. 5:31-32). He came to show us how to serve God and one another — how to love God and one another. How can we not serve Him after we’ve been healed and saved by Him?

Simon’s mother-in-law didn’t have to serve them after she was healed — she chose to. I find it so fascinating that it doesn’t mention if she praised Him or leapt with joy or even spoke a word. We read nothing else about her response except that she served them after her healing. We don’t even know exactly how she served them. Her service was worth noting — not because of what she did, but because of Who she was doing it for. Her act of service — whatever it was — impacted the people around her. She didn’t do it to be noticed or recognized, but it clearly made an impact and was important enough to make note of and record as a part of the Gospels. Service to God begins in our hearts. It begins when we respond to Him and His healing touch in our own lives. When we allow Him to take us by the hand and lift us up while simultaneously healing us, we’re different. When we experience His miraculous healing in our own lives, how can we be the same?

Service to God looks different for each one of us. We are a part of one body that has many members and we don’t all have the same function (Rom. 12:4). We are all created uniquely by God to bring Him glory, but how we do that can look different for each of us. For me, in this season, I am to bring Him glory in my marriage, in my motherhood, in my thoughts, in my actions, in my words, in my witness — to name a few. Wherever we find ourselves, once we’ve been healed by Him, may we be people who begin serving Him right away — right where we are, however He wants us to.

Also, serving Jesus isn’t something to be ashamed of in the least. A friend highlighted a couple of verses this week and then I read them in my reading as well. John 3:20-21 says, “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.'” The healing that we receive from Jesus should be something that leads us to serve Him — to come to the Light that others may clearly see that His works have been carried out. Oh to be like Simon’s mother-in-law who — though her name isn’t mentioned — is known because of her service to the Savior. She’s known because of how she responded to the only One who can heal all of our wounds and illnesses — the only One who can save us. May our hearts respond in service to Him all the days of our lives — for the glory of God and the good of the people around us.

Song(s) of the Week: This week I chose “In The Light” by DC Talk. Enjoy!