Heal me, Dr. Jesus.

One could not write a story with any more drama than is found in the account of John Newton’s life. Best known as the author of the hymn, Amazing Grace, he lived what we sing. Some wonder if he was using poetic license when he spoke of the grace of God that ‘saved a wretch like me.’  He was not!  After his Christian mother died when he was 7, he lived with his father where he learned all the excesses of sin. He went to sea as a cabin boy at age 11, living among men who practiced every vice. In time, he became the captain of several slave ships where eventually the horrors of human suffering became too much to bear. He left the sea, turned to Christ, started Bible Studies in his home, and eventually became an Anglican pastor.  He collaborated with William Cowper to compile a hymnal that contained some of England’s best loved songs of worship in the 18^th century.  Best none is better known than the one that celebrates the amazing grace of Jesus that changed a man bent on destruction, destined for Hell, into a man of love for God and others.

Perhaps your life is not as dramatic as Newton’s, your sins not so spectacular as slave-trading, but, the indictment stands and there is a “long and sorry record as sinners… ( which) proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us." (Romans 3:23, The Message)  Ours is a universal sin sickness.  For some the symptoms are obvious, for others less so, yet none of us can lay claim to the perfection of life required by our Creator.  We are wretchedly destined for destruction. The Bible’s words are not pleasant, but they are true. "We all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others." (Ephesians 2:3, NKJV)  We would be hopeless, except that there is a doctor in the house.

God sent us a Savior, a physician who heals us and restores our spiritual life.  I love the story that is a kind of parable for all of us.  Mark tells it.  "Several days later Jesus returned to Capernaum, and the news of his arrival spread quickly through the town. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there wasn’t room for one more person, not even outside the door. And he preached the word to them. Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus.

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”
But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there said to themselves, “What? This is blasphemy! Who but God can forgive sins!” Jesus knew what they were discussing among themselves, so he said to them, “Why do you think this is blasphemy? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’? I will prove that I, the Son of Man, have the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, take your mat, and go on home, because you are healed!” The man jumped up, took the mat, and pushed his way through the stunned onlookers. Then they all praised God. “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” they exclaimed." (Mark 2:1-12, NLT)

Where are you in that story?
Are you bringing someone sick with sin to the Master for healing?

Are you the one brought? 

Are you among those who stand in judgment, seeking a remedy for sin’s sickness in religion, rather than through the Savior?

I am the wretch, paralyzed by my sin, to whom He says, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” His healing words transform me, put me on my feet, and release me from God’s wrath to live in His favor! Oh, yes, it is an amazing grace. We are, by God’s gift, "made alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God!" (Ephesians 2:5-8, NIV)

Have you come to Dr. Jesus for your healing?
Has He changed you from a sin-sick person to a healthy saint?

He can, He will because of His amazing grace!

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Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind but now I see!

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved.

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

The Lord has promised good to me,

His Word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures.

Through many dangers toils and snares

I have already come.

'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease.

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

When we've been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We've no less days, to sing God's praise,

Than when we first begun.

John Newton

© Words: Public Domain