“And Jesus answering said unto them, ‘They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’.”
Luke 5:31-32
Until we realize Who He is and what we need, we’ll never come to Him.
“Poor and needy.”
That’s the ones Jesus is describing in today’s Manna; yet, few there are who characterize themselves this way. Why is that?
Pride.
Plain and simple.
Pride that says “I don’t need/want anyone else’s help. I can do it. Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. Can’t you see I’m ‘somebody’?!? Don’t bother me. Get outta my way.”
Sound familiar?
Most likely—for such is the “modus operandi” in this day-and-age of getting ahead at others’ expense.
But, it’s always been that way.
It was that way in Jesus’ day. And, it’s still that way today.
That’s why Jesus’ Message is still just as relevant today as it was back then: “They that are whole—i.e., those who ‘have their act together’ (or at least think they do)—don’t need a physician. Only those who realize they’re sick—i.e., down-and-out, in need of assistance, unable to get any better without a doctor’s aid—are willing to ask for help.”
And, so it is with God’s Salvation and Kingdom Life.
So long as we view ourselves as “righteous,” we’ll never feel our need of the Savior; only “sinners” do that. So long as we envision ourselves as a member of the “spiritually-enlightened, the elite,” we’ll always be more like the Pharisees than we are the publicans.
Only “the meek and lowly in heart” will come to Christ. . .for they alone are desperate for Him and His healing touch.
Does this mean we have to spend the rest of our lives with a beggarly attitude like the one standing on the street corner with an outstretched cup? No, it doesn’t mean that at all—not when we’re an adopted child of the King of kings and “more than conquerors through Him Who loved us” (Rom. 8:37).
But, it does mean our standing with Christ never gives way to a sense of “superiority” in Christ. Again, apart from His Grace and Mercy we are nothing. A big, fat Zero (Lam. 3:21-23). And, woe to those who forget it or think otherwise.
It’s no accident the Road to Revival is first a downward one (II Chron. 7:14). Without first “humbling ourselves,” we’ll never feel the need to “pray, seek His Face and turn from our wicked ways.” Likewise, we’ll continue to harbor grudges, seek revenge, be critical, etc. If we would know Him, we must first seek Him—as a deathly-ill person seeks a physician.
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated May 12, 2010
