Please find a quiet place to focus on God for a few minutes, asking His Spirit to speak to your heart, and in Jesus’ name, ridding your heart and mind of distractions, burdens, guilt, worry, etc. Today’s scripture is Matthew 15:29-32

The Message (MSG)

^29-31 After Jesus returned, he walked along Lake Galilee and then climbed a mountain and took his place, ready to receive visitors. They came, tons of them, bringing along the paraplegic, the blind, the maimed, the mute—all sorts of people in need—and more or less threw them down at Jesus’ feet to see what he would do with them. He healed them. When the people saw the mutes speaking, the maimed healthy, the paraplegics walking around, the blind looking around, they were astonished and let everyone know that God was blazingly alive among them.

³² But Jesus wasn’t finished with them. He called his disciples and said, “I hurt for these people. For three days now they’ve been with me, and now they have nothing to eat. I can’t send them away without a meal—they’d probably collapse on the road.”

These verses demonstrate in bold description the compassion Jesus has for people.  He clearly knew they would come to Him -- He “took his place, ready to receive visitors.”  Now, it also says He didn’t go to them – he climbed a mountain and then waited for them!  It took effort to get to him – and most of these people couldn’t do it on their own – the paraplegic, the blind and the maimed most certainly needed help.  That’s the point that caught my attention today in worship.  The people needing healing didn’t go on their own – they had helpers!  It says all sorts of people threw themselves at his feet – there were probably people with additional needs that Matthew didn’t describe.  Probably people who had needs that weren’t visible to the naked eye.  These helpers were sensitive and caring, and probably had the same faith in Jesus as the folks needing healing.  It makes me wonder about the people around me every day that might need the same compassion and/or healing.  Do I notice?  Do I help?  Do they even know that there is a Jesus that “hurts” for them?  Am I willing to share this compassion, or will I continue to hoard it to myself?

Father, make me compassionate towards the people in my life.  Take the blinders off my eyes to see the folks who need you.  Open my mouth to share the love and healing that you so freely give.  Make me one of your disciples, in this mission field of life.

kristi