Monday, July 14, 2014
Mark 5:21-24a When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." So Jesus went with him.
GO TO JESUS
Imagine that your child is sick. You decide you need to get to the doctor as soon as you can. You get in the car and race down to the emergency room of the local hospital, your mind and your heart are focused intently on getting your child well. You arrive, park the car and run for the entrance door, but before you can get inside, someone else comes out of the building and says to you, "Don't bother going in. You won't get help here. The doctors are too busy, there is a four hour wait, and when you get in they won't know what they're doing anyway." What would you do? Would you walk away discouraged and try to find somewhere else to take your sick child? Or would you ignore the warning you've just been given and go in anyway, trusting that somewhere there you will be able to find the help you need?
Jairus was a ruler in the synagogue. He did not just imagine a situation like this, he lived it. His little daughter was dying and he knew he needed to get her some help. He needed to get her to the emergency room--to Doctor Jesus Christ. He expected that there he would find the help he needed for his little girl.
Jairus' confidence was not misplaced. Jesus had recently helped a man who had been troubled by many evil spirits. No one else had been able to help the fellow as he sat among the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. After sending away the demons into a herd of pigs, Jesus watched the man go his way telling everyone how he had been healed. Jairus may have heard. But however he had learned what Jesus could do, he was convinced that the Lord could help him now.
Let's go to Jesus as Jairus did, ever expecting that He can help us in our hour of need. Whether our souls are troubled and in need of His calming words of forgiveness or whether our bodies are in need of His healing touch, we can turn to Him with confidence.
