Saturday of Week 1 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Hebrews 4:12-16 | Psalm 18(19):8-10,15 | Mark 2:13-17
Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help. (Hebrews 4:16)
While waiting for a bus at Paya Lebar station yesterday, I spied a blind old man making his way up a ramp that would end at the station lift. Since he was walking confidently, as if he was familiar with the route, I didn’t give him a second thought.
Until two minutes later, when I saw him walking back down the ramp again. Evidently, he couldn’t find the lift, and this time his gait was a tad less confident. Oddly, though my partner and I were talking rather loudly just a few metres from him, he walked right past us without asking for help, and would soon exit the station grounds.
So I intercepted him and asked where he was going. Sure enough, he was trying to get to Jurong East, so I guided him down to the station gantry, where my partner grabbed a security person nearby and asked him to guide the gentleman to the correct platform.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
What struck me about this encounter was the evident relief on his face and in his voice when I stepped forward to help. It was as if his pride stopped him from calling out for assistance, even though his white cane was pretty much an “all-access pass” for help.
We too have been granted an “all-access pass” to salvation, in the person of Jesus Christ. We can be assured that this “pass” will surely work, that it won’t be rescinded due to some unforeseen technicality.
We know this because Jesus experienced first-hand all our human weaknesses and temptations. Just like a technical manager who rose through the ranks instead of being “parachuted” in from outside the company, He knows all too well what we need, so He’s promised us His grace in full, to fill in the gaps and make us whole again. In His own words:
It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners. (Mark 2:17)
All we need to do…is accept Him in full too, to ask for His Divine Assistance all day long, to surrender ourselves to His grace and compassion.
Why are we still hesitating?
The Saviour is waiting to enter your heart
Why don’t you let Him come in?
There’s nothing in this world to keep you apart
What is your answer to Him?Time after time, He has waited before
And now He is waiting again
To see if you’re willing to open the door
O how He wants to come in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHJLmdR5gVQ