WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Say you are in church and the dirtiest, most smelly person you have ever met walked into church service and sat beside you? What would you do?
I am sure that most people would say good morning and smile and then focus on worship and well.....
What would you do if that person just told you he had the latest, greatest, scariest disease known to people and that you should stay the required ten feet away from him?
What would you do?
Get up and move?
Stay where you were and debate inside yourself what to do?
Get someone to help you remove the person from church? (I hope not!)
Put your arm around them, tell them Jesus loves them and invite them home for lunch?
What would you do?
I know what Jesus would do.

While Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, (Matthew 26:6)

Can you figure it out? Jesus went into the home of the most social outcast person known at the time.
The amazing thing about this is that his disciples, who were with him, didn't seem to ponder this fact by now. Jesus had rubbed off on them that much already. Now they were complaining about perfume and how much it cost and why did she pour it on his head?

Jesus in a house of a leper.
Disciples didn't care? were use to it? were starting to be...like...Jesus....

What would you do?

(The photo (credit: http://www.indchurch.org/Leprosy-outreach.html) at the begining of this post is of actual leprosy. The person lives in India. For more information on this disease visit http://www.ldolphin.org/leprosy.html and http://www.who.int/lep/disease/disease.htm
It seems leprosy meant skin diseases in general, not just leprosy as we know it. But the alwful affects of leprosy seems to have lead to the terrible discrimination towards suffers.)

Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.
(Heb 13:8)

The wife of my friend recently wrote a column about medicine back in the 1920's and 30's as she was growing up. Her wonderful article (http://www.thewordwright.org/) got me thinking about how things are different today compared to "back then" .
Unlike my friend's wife, I grew up in the 1960's not the 30's, so things are a little bit different.
Let' start with her time, let's see what we have in the 1920-30-40's:
Polio epidemic-growing exponentially yearly. From a disease that hit people to a frightening epidemic in about 20 years!
Infections-a simple cut could kill you. Her mother was very blessed to not die of tetnaus or staph after the accident with the piece of metal.
Pneumonia-still around, still dangerous, but the common cold any child had could have easily turned into pneumonia.
Heard of small pox? measles? mumps? Childhood diseases. Why did we work so hard to produce vaccines against these pests? Because of all the children that died, that is why.
Get an ouchy? It is time for--mercurochrome! It has mercury in it! which is absorbed into the skin hence into the blood stream.....
Then, you survived childhood in the 1930's and as a young man you went to war in the 1940's.

Now for me.
I often wondered how I survived my childhood in the 60's. No seat belts-I used to lay in that little shelf above the backseat that all cars had (between the back window and back of the rear seat) and watch where we had been.
I always dangled my arms or legs OUT the windows.
I rode my bike without a helment! Oh no!
Play astronaut and we would roll down the hill-inside an old wooden wire reel we used for a picnic table!
Climb popular trees and hang onto the top during windy march days (kites were no fun after that). How come the top never gave out and broke? What was I thinking!?!
I rode extreme bike before there was such a thing. Ask me sometime how we rode our bikes! Or went sledding!
I watch too much tv (still do) so am suffering from brain rot because mom said "it will rot your brain out!" (I am still looking for the t.v. wasteland! )
Have had several operations to remove watermelons growing inside my belly after I swallowed the seeds (joke there).
It took a week to recover from an appendectomy-today you are home in time to rot your brain some more via t.v.
I was one of the first generation to be vaccinated against polio.
And all the other stuff-I survived the needle, but didn't get all of the new stuff, I still remember going through the childhood diseases.
I had pneumonia-bad and antibotics saved my life.
I had a concussion-now that I know what they are-I often wonder how many more I had and didn't know about? I don't know-I can't remember!
Then on the other hand-
I didn't know what aids or Hiv was. Nor had I heard of Alzheimer's.
I didn't know what STDs are.
No one every heard of abortions-I suspect they were there, you didn't know about it.
Gay meant happy not the other thing.
Summers where longer and winters were snowy and school was well, school.
Internet? What internet?
Remember Walter Cronkite saying on the t.v. show In the 21st Century "In the 21st century people will have computers in their homes"? Yea, right. And if they do, will they blow up like on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea? (If so, yes!)
Vietnam was raging and protest where happening. I must admit, clothes were more interesting then than today, but not as revealing.
My Dad was younger and stronger. Today is old and feeble.
There were no terrorists and the nation of Israel were one of the good guys.
Superman said Truth, Justice and the American Way and was sure of himself-today he goes off to find himself.

What is one thing I didn't have as a child that I don't miss that I have today?
I have a Savior.
I didn't then.

Ahhhh, summer....green trees, grass to mow, hay in the fields, humid days, sudden rain showers, and vacation.
Do you take your vacation in the summer? When I was a kid, that was the time we did. We never took vacation during the school year (students do today)! Vacation. What a word.
So where did you go? Local? Across the nation? To another nation? Or just hang out in the back yard?
(With gas near three bucks the back yard sounds good!)
Okay, here we go; decide on the destination-check, bags all packed-check, mail stopped-check, yard mowed-check, oven, iron and lights off-check, tickets or whatever in hand-check, kids in the card-check, all ready to go!
But, oh brother, but, did you remember God in your plans? Did you look up the local congregation to visit while out of town? Did you arrange your trip to be home before Sunday? Did you pack your Bible?
Did you say a family prayer before leaving?
God doesn't take vacations, He is 24/7 there for you----now, are you totally on vacation?

Would you be free from your burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you o'er evil a victory win?
There's wonderful power in the blood.

This week we will celebrate our country's independence day. It is the fourth of July! (One of my favorite one-liners, does England have a fourth of July?)
Fireworks, sparklers, barbecue, potato salad, soda pop, ice cream, parades, and lots of red, white and blue! Hooray! Let's have a picnic and watch the pretty colors!
Independence-freedom-heady words, a blessing to have.
But then......are you truly free? Or just think you are?

Christ has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. So keep on standing firm in it, and stop attaching yourselves to the yoke of slavery again.
(Galatians 5:1)

A live without Christ is not free. The burden of sin is great. The cost of that life of sin is even greater.
Celebrate your freedom in Christ! Everyday is independence day in Jesus. Free from the thoughts during the night of "is there more to life than this?"
Freedom from obsessiveness about things.
But, freedom does not give us freedom from responsibilities.

For you, brothers, were called to freedom. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity to gratify your flesh, but through love make it your habit to serve one another.

(Galatians 5:13)
Notice, the scriptures says, make it your habit to serve one another. With freedom comes responsibility.

Live like free people, and do not use your freedom as an excuse for doing evil. Instead, be God's servants.

(1 Peter 2:16)

I'll let the last stanza of today's thought finish this post:

Would you do service for Jesus your King?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you live daily His praises to sing?
There's wonderful power in the blood.
Words and music by Lewis E. Jones