Our Leprous Hearts
Many people try to change themselves. Most, if not all of us, have gotten to a point in our lives when we say, "ok I'm gonna change." And so we gather up as much strength and resolve as we can, and we try, and try, and try. But before long, we've given up.
Struggles with Change
These words in the writing of the prophet Jeremiah hit quite close to home: "Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." (Jeremiah 13:23)
Can you relate? Your sins, your bad habits, your godless ways—you kind of keep defaulting back to them. It's like you're tainted by them. Another verse in the Old Testament says this: "As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly." (Proverbs 26:11) That's a vivid picture of an unchanged life.
But friends, Jesus changes lives. When Jesus, the Son of God came to earth, he offered change. He offered, not just the same life with a bit less guilt. He offered us change, transformation, newness! The New Testament says this: "anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Jesus Brings Transformation
Perhaps you are reading this today needing a new life. Tired of just going back and forth into the same old habits and sins, you want to be able to say "my old life is gone, a new life has begun!"
Jesus offers you this. We see him offering this to people time and again in the gospels. This week, we’ll look at a story in Luke 5, where Jesus changes the life of a man with leprosy. Now, you probably don’t have leprosy, but the Bible often uses leprosy as a picture of sin. Leprosy would contaminate a person's whole body; sin in our lives contaminates us, it ruins us, it kills us little by little. Leprosy would separate sufferers from others; sin separates us from others, causes damage. Leprosy couldn't be scrubbed off; sin can't just be scrubbed off by our willpower. We are powerless to change the leprous state of our hearts!
But there is one who can cleanse us. There is one who can take our hearts and make them clean! In fact the song playing in the background this week says: O for a heart that is whiter than snow!! Saviour divine, to whom else shall I go?
Jesus Offers New Life
There's nobody else to go to who can take our leprous hearts, callous and stained by sin, and cleanse them. But Jesus can! Jesus and only Jesus can offer you change. And He longs to do this – when everybody else ran away from the leprous people, what did Jesus do? He moved towards them!
Today Jesus is moving towards you, to cleanse the leprous state of your heart. Will you welcome Him?
