Today's Passage - John 9:5-12

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english John 9:5-12   While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means "Sent"). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.....                  God is full of grace and mercy, willing to heal us, but people may not comprehend God's method and timing. After making the great "I am the light of the world" proclamation in verse 5, in verse 6 the Lord suddenly spit on the ground. I think many people would have a hard time getting through it all. How inappropriate! Not just saliva, but saliva and mud, how can one accept it? Sometimes we have difficulties understanding why the Lord Jesus would use such method; aren't there better ways? Brothers and sisters, there is no need to ask why because God has absolute sovereignty.                  People would want to control, to generalize the many ways to find the principles or laws, but God would seldom act in conventional ways. In the bible, the Lord healed the blind men three times doing it differently each time. The first in John 9:7, using saliva and mud and put it on the man's eyes, sending him to wash in the Pool of Siloam; the second in Mark 8:23, the Lord spit and put saliva on the man's eyes and he would see immediately; the third in Luke 18:42, the Lord proclaimed, "Receive your sight." The man would see right away. The Lord Jesus did it differently each time. People would always want to analyze and formulate some principles, but God would never do things the same way.                  Why wouldn't God do things the same way? It's because of human weakness. Once we have the rules, our hearts would not look at God; rather we would seek people, laws, and the so-called "sacred objects". On the other hand, we would legalize the rules to lord over people: "it must be this way, otherwise there is no healing and it's not spiritual." The church has too many traditions and laws having the original intent to help people but instead they become their bondage, suffocating them. The Lord rarely condemned the sinners, he even got close to them, but he rebuked the Pharisees, because they sanctioned and legalized God. Ask God to help us, let us open our hearts readily to receive God's grace. No matter how God would come to us, let us receive in full with joy, God's grace will come upon us!                                 Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, may you open our hearts again to purely receive your grace. Let us also surrender under your sovereignty, do us great things according to your wonderful ways. We pray and give thanks in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!