Boundless Love ¾ God’s love flows freely to all
by Michaela Bruzzese
Naaman, a great warrior from Aram, is crippled by leprosy, and
he is healed not by a member of his own people, but by the Hebrew prophet
Elisha. Physical cleanliness also brought him spiritual clarity; upon being
healed, he recognizes Yahweh as both the source of his healing and his life:
"Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel" (2 Kings
5:15).
Luke teaches a similar lesson. When Jesus responds to a plea for
mercy by 10 lepers and heals them, he cannot understand why only one—a
Samaritan—returns. Jesus asks, "Was none of them found to
return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" He then commands
the Samaritan to "Get up and go on your way; your faith
has made you well" (Luke 17:19). Though Jesus physically healed all 10
men, he reassures the Samaritan that his faith has "made
him well," implying that such faith healed his soul as well as his body.
In both accounts, it is the foreigner—supposedly undeserving of
God’s attention and love—who is healed. As Paul describes, God’s healing, like
God’s word, flows freely to all who are prepared to listen and receive, for "the
word of God is not chained" (2 Timothy 2:9).
Though we attempt to bind God’s power and word to benefit only
ourselves and those who think as we do, God goes to great lengths to show that
God’s love and mercy flow freely to all.
Michaela Bruzzese was a freelance writer living in Chile when this article
appeared. |
