Daily Devotional for October 13

 

October 13                                                   Matthew 9:27-34

The tall thin man propped himself up, leaning his frail frame
against the back of a church pew, and made a statement that
initially sounded strange.

"I'm so happy. .." Randy said, pausing to gasp for air and
to wipe tears from his darkly circled eyes. Smiling weakly, he
finished, "... to be here."

The words were spoken with too much effort for them to be
doubted. Randy was sincere about his happiness. A few days
earlier it had looked as if this gentle twenty-six-year-old human
being, this child of God, this new Christian, wouldn't make
it to church. He had been hospitalized, barely able to breathe,
suffering from AIDS-related pneumonia.

But Randy was determined. Like the blind men in today's
passage, he struggled, crying out to God and refusing to be
denied a closer union with Christ. This Sunday was special
for Randy. It was his Sunday to be officially baptised into the
family of God. He left his hospital bed to be in God's house
with his brothers and sisters in Christ.

Sometimes, it's too easy for us to think of reasons to stay away
from church. After all, God is everywhere. We needn't track
Christ down to be healed. We simply have to call Christ's
name.

Perhaps that's the problem. Perhaps if Christ were a little more
difficult to find we would be less likely to forget to look for
our Saviour. How often we suffer simply because we fail to
call on Christ.

Randy and the blind men knew the value of being close to God.
Most surely, God was with Randy in his hospital room. But
he wanted more. He wanted to feel the healing presence of
Christ that comes from being with other Christians.
And most surely, he did. As he put it, "I'm so happy...."

​

From The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C.