And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:30-32
When sickness invades our bodies and we are unable to find healing through home remedies or the passing of time, we have a great appreciation for doctors. When the doctor alone cannot prescribe something that will cure us, we are equally grateful for hospitals. Knowing that help is available to restore our health of give us a better quality of life is a great relief.
However!
It is possible to seek medical attention that does not benefit a person at all. The doctor can have the proper instruments, the right diagnosis, and even the cure to what ails us, but still be unable to help us.
How?
A doctor can fail to help us when we refuse, ignore or decline his instructions.
So often people are warned of the risk of serious health issues if they don’t make some changes to their habits and diets. Doctors aren’t delivering easy news when they tell their patients that they need to stop smoking, or they need to lose 50 pounds. Even though the instructions aren’t easy, they are necessary. The physician has seen many patients on the same path of destruction, and he knows what lies ahead. Even so, many choose to ignore his advice, or they just don’t want to make the effort to help themselves do better because it is hard work.
This scenario is also true for many people who have never had a life-changing experience with the Lord. It can also be true for those who have had their first encounters with the Lord but hesitate to give Him full control.
In Luke 5, Jesus indirectly referred to Himself and sinners as a physician and those who are sick. He made His mission known. He came to call sinners (those who are sick spiritually) to repentance. We truly know Jesus as the great Physician, but not only for the body, but for the soul.
Much like our natural doctors, Jesus is only as capable of helping us as we allow Him to. There are many sin-sick souls that desperately need the touch of the Master, yet don’t want to surrender their own desires to Jesus. Our Lord never told us that necessary changes would be easy. He did, however, offer us power by being filled with His Spirit! Still, His power works when we are also doing our part to overcome the things that want to destroy us.
Physical surgery, change of diet and removing bad habits from our lives are not fun or easy. Even so, the benefits are absolutely worth it! These things are perfectly applicable to our spiritual well-being also. Spiritually, we may need to have some things cut off or removed from our lives. Those things could be toxic friends or places we have enjoyed visiting but are terrible for our spiritual health. Our change of diet may be the books we read, the entertainment we ingest or the music we listen to. We need to change the things we allow into our minds from the things that feed our flesh, to the things that nurture our spirit. We may need to stop addictions and behaviors that will cause us to never have complete victory in our walks with the Lord.
The world will try to convince us that God wants us just as we are. While it is true that He loves us where He finds us, He also loves us too much to leave us there! We must remember that He desires the best for us, and He knows exactly what we need. He is ready and willing to help us to become victorious Christians. We must ask ourselves if we are ready to listen to His instruction.
Friends, He will never lead us in a wrong direction. Let us take a final leap of faith to trust Him as He leads us all the way to victory!
