Matthew 9:14-26

Week 5 Memory Verse

But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.   

And as you go, preach, saying,

‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’  

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,

raise the dead, cast out demons.

Freely you have received, freely give.

Matthew 10:6-8 

 

 

Read Matthew 9:14-26!

 

 

As a little girl, I had many friends who were head over heels in love with members of New Kids on the Block or Garth Brooks. I could just never understand what drove all of my friends to be completely batty about whichever celebrity was their new crush or obsession. As I got older, I would see stories in the media about how fans and paparazzi followed these people around constantly, never giving them a moment of peace. What was the big obsession with celebrities?

When I was 25 years old, my family decided to spend Christmas at Walt Disney World. At one point in our time there, my brother and I had headed into the Haunted Mansion ride while the rest of my family was in various places shopping or riding different attractions. As you walk into this particular ride, they have about fifty guests stand together in what is called the Stretching Room. You are in a tight space with those people for a few minutes before heading out to get on the actual ride itself. As my brother and I were standing in the room, I happened to glance behind me and saw Donny Osmond standing only a few people from me.

Now understand this, I only know who Donny Osmond is because my mother was a fan of his when she was younger and had talked to me about him before. I had seen pictures of him in the media for various things, but couldn’t tell you one song he has ever sung or even what he was famous for, I just knew that he was a celebrity. Immediately I told my brother who it was and that our mother would be so incredibly excited to see him. All we could talk about through the entire ride was telling my mother who we had seen. As we got off the ride, my mother was waiting right at the exit for the two of us. We immediately rushed over and told her about being on the ride with Donny Osmond himself. What my mother did next will never escape my memory! She began to run…I mean RUN…to catch up with him in the crowd. She left us, her family, behind and went after this celebrity like it was life or death. All she needed to do was reach out to him in the crowd, and she could have her time meeting him face to face.

In today’s passage, we see a woman with that same drive and determination for Jesus. Jesus was one of the earliest celebrities of our time. He had crowds of people following him everywhere he went. I can only imagine what it was like for him to move from place to place all while being surrounded by those who wanted to know more about his ministry or to be healed by the Christ himself. Jesus and his disciples were heading out to go see about the sick daughter of a synagogue leader. You can only expect that a crowd of people were following Jesus as well. In Mark 5, it tells us that the crowd pressed all around him. This woman, who had been bleeding for twelve years, knew that if she could just reach out her hand and touch his cloak, she would be healed. She knew how important it was to TOUCH Jesus. She could probably tell that he was on a mission and didn’t want to bother him for long or maybe she didn’t have enough energy, after bleeding for so many years, to go very far with the crowd. What we do know is, her faith was strong enough that just simply touching Jesus was enough for her.

I have to ask the same for us today. Do we reach out to Jesus? Do we push through the “crowds” of things, like work, family life, and busyness, which block us from God? Are we willing to RUN as fast and as determined as we can to meet Jesus face to face? Acts 17:27 says that, “God did this (created the Earth and all of us in it) so that we would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.” God is calling us to reach out to Him and find Him. It is the entire reason we were created! Not to have nice things or live a good life, but to REACH out to God and find Him there waiting on us. Our faith has to be that simple, and our focus and determination must be on God and God alone.

 

 

 

Today’s Reflection:

Think about what you are “reaching” for. It is easy to see that answer when you reflect on what you are spending your time and determination on. Make a to-do list daily of your tasks with God at the top to remind you to focus on God first before all else. It can be so easy to get busy in this world and forget that we are here just to seek God and nothing else. Seeing it down on paper helps us not to skip over the most important part of our day. Look through the Bible and write down other places in Scripture that shows people “reaching” out to God. Use those stories as a reminder when your focus gets swayed.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  KELLY SMITH has been married to her husband, James, for 5 years.  They attend Pine Forest Baptist Church in Pine Forest, Texas, where she is the Children's Ministry Director.  Kelly is an elementary school library media specialist for Silsbee ISD where she has worked for eleven years. She is an avid Disney fan who sees God work in my life through the use of Disney characters and Disney experiences on a daily basis. Never underestimate what God can use when working with His children. :)