May we SEE Your invitation

“[Jesus] said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Come here.’” Mark 3:3
I love when God allows us to “see” Him through His own words. After writing a curriculum lesson on Mark chapter three, where Jesus healed a man with a withered and deformed hand, I found myself thinking all week about the words Jesus spoke to the man. This man had most likely experienced nothing but painful rejection and isolation throughout his entire life. People would have walked away from him, avoided eye contact and treated him as if he were invisible, and yet Jesus beckoned the man to come to Him.
I wonder what the man must have felt as the eyes of the Messiah were lovingly turned toward him. What must that man have thought as the Son of God beckoned him to come? Did he feel a magnetic pull toward his Creator? Did his heart quicken with every step? As he stood by the Savior of the world when Jesus asked the crowd if it was “lawful to do good or harm, to save life or to kill on the Sabbath”, could he take his eyes off Jesus? What did the man do when Jesus became angry at the calloused, self-righteousness of the Pharisee’s lack of response? And then, as Jesus told the man to “stretch out your hand” and He healed his withered ineffective hand, did the man shout and leap for joy or was he completely incapable of speech at the total restoration and healing touch of the Savior?
“Come here.” Such precious words from our Lord.
I can hear our Savior’s gentle voice saying:
Broken child, come here.
Lost lamb, come here.
Hurting daughter, come here.
Striving son, come here.
Wounded spirit, come here.
Withered heart, come here.
Come to the only One who can truly heal and truly restore. Do not give into the the lie that you must strive to follow man made rules in order to find acceptance and value. Instead, “come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Let the love of Jesus heal what is withered and ineffective. Let the One who came to save, heal your heart and soul.
“Come here”
“Lord, may we see Your precious invitation to “come here” and may we trust You to heal our brokenness.”