Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)
When I was growing up, there was a cartoon entitled, Dennis the Menace. It was one of my favorites because I always thought I was a lot like Dennis. So did my mom and my neighbors. Dennis was always getting into mischief. He was a constant thorn in the side of his neighbor Mr. Wilson with both his questions and his antics. In one episode Dennis was holding up a handful of flowers and asked Mr. Wilson, “How can anything so pretty and clean come out of dirt?” As you might be thinking, this question Dennis asked could be asked by all of us about mankind.
If we are being honest with ourselves, we must admit we have all felt like the man with leprosy who came and knelt before Jesus saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (Matthew 8:2). We, by sinful nature, are all lepers. And yet, our Lord Jesus is ready, willing, and able to make us clean. It starts when we trust in Jesus as our Savior and Lord. But that is only the beginning. For the rest of our lives, God is at work cleaning us up from the inside out and one day, when we breathe our last, we will be made perfect.
Unlike the religious leaders in Israel, Jesus did not withdraw from the leper. He did not withdraw from the dirty, downcast, and defiled sinners. He did not withdraw from the marginalized and the vilified. He loved them and He ministered to them. Now in this story, Jesus could have simply healed this man without saying a word or doing anything. But notice what happens after this man asked Jesus to clean him. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man, “I am willing, be clean” (Matthew 8:3). The religious leaders could not get far enough away from this unclean man. But Jesus meets him in his place of deep need with the touch of love.
Remember, like the flowers Dennis held up wondering how such beauty could come from dirt, we can at times, wonder how we will ever be conformed into the beautiful image of Christ, as we stir up the dirt in our lives through what we think do, say, and desire. Fear not! Jesus is at work in you removing the dirt in your life. Now this does not happen in a day, but rather, daily. And Jesus will not stop short of removing every speck of dirt from your life, making you whiter than snow one day soon and taking you from dust to glory.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 