Read : Mark 1:40-45
Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand, and touched him. - Mark 1:41
People who enjoy good health sometimes neglect the less fortunate, and sometimes they even treat them cruelly. When I was young, I saw a group of older boys teasing a retarded man. I have also observed people deliberately avoid someone who looks "different" or who has a physical handicap.
Jesus never responded that way. He was kind to afflicted people, and they thronged about Him. He took a blind man by the hand and led him away from the crowd before healing him. He touched the sick - even lepers. He stopped to expel demons from the possessed. I recently observed my sister-in-law's kindness to people most others ignore. Every week she spends a large part of a day
helping two aged shut-ins. She has also befriended a mentally impaired man who lives on her street. Almost everyday he stops at her home for a brief visit. From the smile on his face, we sensed the joy she brings in his life.
How we treat the less fortunate is one measure of our likeness to Jesus. Because they cannot give in return, we have a special opportunity to be truly unselfish. We should welcome every occassion to show Christlike compassion to those who receive so little but need so much. - Herb Vander Lugt
Oh lead me, Lord, that I may lead
The wandering and the wavering feet;
Oh feed me, Lord, that I may feed
The hungering ones with manna sweet. - Havergal
A test of our Christian love is whether or not we help those who cannot help us in return.
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