If You Will

Scripture Reading: Luke 5:12-16

This leper approached Jesus we humility and faith. He was hopeful but not presumptuous. He believed in the power of Christ to heal him. He had a degree of faith in the love and mercy of Christ. He wouldn’t have approached Him if he thought that Jesus would outright reject him without any consideration of his request. But he wasn’t presuming. He came humbly asking, “Lord, if you will.”

It is this freedom of God to forgive or not, to give favor or withhold favor, that is at the heart of grace. If God has to forgive, “because that is His job,” as one man put it, then it is no longer grace. Grace is a gift given without obligation.

We can come expectantly, not because God is obligated to us, but because He has made promises to us. He made those promises because He wanted to, not because He had to. So, come in humble faith and pray, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And if you wonder if He wills to or not, read the Scriptures and cling to His promises to do just that.