Obedience: Did You Complete the Whole Assignment? (Part III)

VERSE: Mark 1:40-45/New King James Version (40) Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” (41) Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” (42) As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. (43) And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, (44) and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (45) However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

REAL ISSUE I’m tithing and I’m sowing but I’m not seeing results. I’m experiencing short-tem victories, but not the breakthroughs my Pastor preaches about. RESEARCH AND STUDY Now that we’ve gotten the toxic people out of our lives (Real Issues, Part I) and were working on our mouths (Real Issues, Part 2), I need to reiterate the importance of the second part of our obedience assignment. Failure to complete this part will hinder the Lord from working for us in that area. In Mark 1:40, 41 we find a leper begging the Lord to cleanse him and ‘Jesus, moved with compassion’ does. But notice the rest of the leper’s OBEDIENCE ASSIGNMENT in verse 44, (1) Say nothing to anyone. (2) Go. (3) Show yourself to the priest. (4) Give an offering. There were FOUR parts to his assignment and the leper refused to complete any of them. Verse 45 says, ‘However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely’. So let me ask you a question. Do you believe he kept that cleansing? Let’s go deeper. Could his mouth have caused him to become leprous in the first place? Wouldn’t this have been the perfect opportunity for the Lord Jesus to heal his PHYSICAL condition and address the SPIRITUAL cause that quite possibly brought about the leprosy? Notice verse 45 states, that after the leper went out and proclaimed it freely ‘that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places’. Think about that for a moment. Could the leper’s disobedience have caused the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees in that city to believe that Jesus instructed him NOT TO DO what Moses commanded in the law? Your disobedience not only affects you, but those around you, and more importantly, it limits and hinders the Lord. If Jesus could not go back to that city because of the lepers’ disobedience, do you think that leper remained cleansed in that city? So again I ask, have you been experiencing short-term victories, only to fail in those areas again? Check your obedience level. It’s not the Lord, it’s you. Be sure to do your part. YOUR ASSIGNMENT Repent! Ask the Lord to forgive you for what you ignorantly or willfully ignored or refused to do. Ask Him to cleanse you from all unrighteousness and to give you another opportunity to complete every assignment He has commanded you to do. Thank Him for His patience and grace. Now look for opportunities to be quiet and check with the Holy Spirit to see if there is something else you need to do. Copyright 2011 © Real Issues Ministries®. All rights reserved.