January 3
2019
When you touch the hem of His garment!
Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” Luke 8: 43-48
There were two things that stood out to me this morning when I read this.
1) The woman with the issue of blood pressed through and pressed in, in order to encounter Jesus. She went out in public even though she was bleeding (was considered impure) and required to stay inside; she pressed through the crowds in what we can imagine was a weakened condition; and she humbled herself, as she would have had to get close to the ground to reach out and touch the hem/border of Jesus’ garment.
Sometimes we just need to get to a point where we are willing to press through and press in.
2) When the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem/border of His garment, Jesus knew He had been touched and that power had gone out of Him, despite the fact that He was in the middle of a crowd and being jostled by many.
But the touch that pressed through and pressed in caused a reaction and Jesus recognized it as the power flowed from Him.
Jesus knows when we press through and press in and touch the hem/border of His garment.
Despite the millions of people in the world jostling for His attention even now, when we reach out and touch Him in faith, He knows our very touch.
Are you ready and willing to press through and press in today? Jesus will recognize and know your very touch as you reach out in faith!