Pay Attention

And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (Mark 5:25-34 ESV).

 

I’m late! For those of you who have come to expect the Morning Devotional first thing in the morning, I am sincerely sorry for the delay today. I wish that I could offer a legitimate excuse. However, in the absence of that, let me just say I have been “busy.” Those who told me that “retirement” would be busier than when I was working full-time were correct. Although I often wonder is my “busy” is really necessary most of the time. Mary has often remarked that I need to sit down. Her reasoning is that my behaving like the energizer bunny is not good for me or her. My life is busy, but is that an excuse for not listening to those around me or the people God brings into my journey each day? Well, our reading today makes that answer crystal clear.

 

Even though most of us feel like we need more hours in a day, more days in a week, and we have too little time for sleep and relaxation, we must find a way to slow down to truly listen to others. Jesus provides the example. He was very busy too. In just over three years, he healed the sick, trained followers, taught a whole new understanding of the Old Testament, saved human­kind from sin, and set in motion events that will one day make all things new. And yet, he took time to listen to a sick woman tell the whole story of her illness.

 

It was astonishing to those who were with him. Yet he asked, “Who touched my garments?” It was a way of saying, “Stop. Listen!” I wonder if we were to follow the example of our Redeemer if things wouldn’t be much simpler. Somehow I think the answer to that is so obvious and yet so difficult that we fail more times than not. Join me and slow down a bit today. Listen to the people around you.