Better… How many times do we want things to be better, or we want to be better, or do better, but that is not really our greatest need. Sometimes we pray and want God to make things better, to fix what we deem is wrong, but as we look at Jesus as He walked on the earth, we see that better is not what He came to offer. He came to offer new. He came to fulfill what was promised, not just a self improvement.
When Jesus was confronted with illness he would ask if the person wanted to be made well, not just better. He wanted the person to count the cost of being made well. That person would have a new life with new challenges. Their identity would be challenged as they were walking a new life, not just a better life. They would be a new creation. We see that Jesus was about more than just making someone’s life better, but wanting to give them a new life.
The woman with the issue of bleeding touched Jesus and her bleeding stopped, but Jesus didn’t want just better for her, He wanted her to experience new life that was available for her. She was not just made better but she now had a new freedom and peace. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Peace and freedom, the woman had come desperately wanting to be made well, but went away well and full of peace. These were things that had been elusive from her life for at least the last 12 years. Now she had a new life physically, but also spiritually, She had been seen, loved, and healed by the lover of her soul. That is so much more than the better she came seeking.
Jesus offers the same to us. We can seek better, or we can seek Jesus and get new and what is best. The one who knows our deepest needs and knows us better than we know ourselves offers us new life, not just something better. “I (God) will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26) “He (Jesus) who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’.” (Revelation 21:5)
* I am joining Five Minute Fridays in a 31 day Writing Challenge. Each day I will be writing on a different word prompt for at least 5 minutes for the month of October.
**Check out 2018’s 31 Day Writing Challenge https://inkblotlife.com/category/write-31-days-2018/
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