Luke 7: 11 Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. 12 A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. 14 Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” 15 Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
You may notice that Jesus DIDN’T say ” Come on now! Buck up. Things are tough all over. So who do you think you are that you should get my attention when there are those in the world who don’t have a bed to sleep on tonight!” No, Jesus didn’t dismiss her at all. Scripture says Jesus’ “heart overflowed” with compassion for the widow.
In Revelation 21: scripture says 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. Of course, most will say that this is a “yet to come Jesus” when He comes again and the words “He will” do point to a time to come. But what about the “NOW” Jesus? The widow was walking beside her dead son’s casket and she didn’t ask for anything, but Jesus saw her crying and his heart overflowed with compassion. Compassion (def) – sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. We can “talk” a lot about the love of Jesus or we can just look at an example of it and see just what His heart was and is like. Jesus cared and the scripture doesn’t record the widow asking for anything, but just grieving. Jesus knew her pain and loss and his heart was overwhelmed with compassion for the way he knew her heart was grieving.
In our prideful way of living, thinking we can handle anything, and losing our compassion for others, we sometimes lose the heart of Jesus in all of our misinterpretation of who Jesus is. We begin to think we are powerful and that we have it all together. We think if we don’t have it all together then there is something terribly wrong with us. Well NEWS FLASH!! We don’t have it all together. Our view of life is all channeled through what we can do to make ourselves better, or appear better. But in reality, we are nothing without Jesus. We may even say we are nothing without Jesus to make sure we cover the humble area for our life. Which makes life this big game and we are the star in our own movie and then we try to prove to God every day just how much we are growing in our walk with Him. When all God wants for us is to minister to us and THEN through us. We are a conduit for sure, but even more than that we get to experience the great compassion Jesus has for each of us through His grace and mercy.
So the next time you need Jesus to minister to your heart, go to Jesus. Because you are probably around a whole bunch of people who will remind you that there are starving kids in China, and be thankful you are just breathing today. Or someone reminds you that things are tough all over. Yada, yada, yada. Most of those people have built up spiritual “looking” perspectives about life so that they don’t rely totally on Jesus, and they just want to keep some of the pride of life in their hands. I think this statement may be a true one. “Those who don’t give it all to Jesus, don’t receive it all from Jesus.” We must rely totally on him and then we will be in a better position to praise Him for reaching out to us. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Jesus sees all of our deepest thoughts and needs and just like the compassion he felt for the widow who had lost her son, He feels compassion. And oh what compassion it is!!! I have to believe Jesus see my needs and feels my tears and I have to believe that He revives my heart by holding me in His loving arms like I am the only person on earth. Because that is who He is and I am so thankful for that great truth. His eyes are on us and He is present and ministering to our hearts.
The Pilgrimage continues….
David Warren
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