Are You Willing To Share Your Story?

And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.  And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.  And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;  And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.  But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter. - Mark 1:40-45

Oh, the irony!  In this passage, Jesus urges the leper to keep his miracle to himself.  "Don't tell anyone," Jesus commands.  "Just show yourself to the priest and follow the rules concerning your cleansing, but I'd appreciate it if you keep this event between you and me.  Okay?"

Yeah, right!  I don't think the leper meant to be disobedient or disrespectful.  I think he was simply so overwhelmed that he couldn't help but tell anyone and everyone what Jesus had done for him.   According to the wording "to blaze abroad the matter," the news of this man's healing spread like wild fire.  He could not keep it to himself.  He had to share Jesus!

The irony is that we have been commanded, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), yet we can barely rouse ourselves to get to church, let alone to reach out and tell others what Jesus has done for us.  The man who was sworn to silence couldn't help but tell, and we who have been commanded to share the gospel can't seem to open our mouths.  What's the problem?  Hasn't God done a miracle in our lives just as He did for the leper?  Don't we have some good news worth sharing?  So why aren't we like the leper?  Why aren't we eager to tell anyone and everyone what the Lord has done for us?

Perhaps we've grown complacent.  We're saved.  We do our best to live like we should.  We go about our daily lives and strive to follow the Lord's leading.  But is that enough?  We treat it as if it is.  We're settled, content to just exist in the here and now, hiding our miracles from those who really need one themselves.  I guess when we boil it all down, we're selfish and self-centered.  We're saved, and whether or not we share our testimony with others won't change that.  True, our witness (or lack thereof) won't affect our salvation, but it may affect someone else's.

Someone today needs a miracle.  Someone is walking down a lonely pathway, wondering if there's any hope.  Someone is looking for a friend.  These people need to hear our stories.  They need to know what Jesus did for us and what He can do for them.  They need to see the results of an encounter with Jesus and to be assured that it's not a temporary fix.  They need to hear a true story.

The leper's testimony sent people flocking to Jesus.  Who knows?  Ours may do the same!