Baptist City Blog

When Faith Steps In

Luke 17:14

"And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed."

On the final journey to Jerusalem before the crucifixion, Jesus stopped in a village to hold a meeting. When He entered the village, there were ten lepers who met Him in hopes that He could heal them. Can you imagine the hope these men had? Their health condemned them to death. Without Jesus' intervention, they would live the remainder of their lives in loneliness as they could not come into contact with the general population. However, when Jesus passed by, they asked Him to have mercy upon them and heal them. Jesus responded by saying, "Go shew yourselves unto the priests." I can only imagine these men were slightly disappointed because Jesus did not immediately heal them. Yet, they trusted His Word and went to see the priests. However, as they went, they were healed. It was when their faith stepped in that they were cleansed.

The key element of the Christian life is faith. The Christian life is started by faith, for you cannot get saved without it. Likewise, God says in Hebrews 11:6 that you cannot please Him without faith. In the story from the verse above, you will find the progression of what is needed for faith to step in.

First, there must be a need. Verse 12 shows us that the leprosy these men had created a need. Their need was to be healed from this awful disease. Do you find an area in your life where you have a need? Maybe your need is for God to step in and heal you of your sickness. Maybe your need is a financial need. Definitely there is a need for a world to be saved from their sin. No matter who you are, there is a need for your faith. That need is that there are people who are dying and going to Hell who are in need of Jesus passing their way. You are the only one who can bring Jesus to them.

Second, for faith to step in there must be a command from God to you. The verse above shows us that God commanded these ten lepers to go to the priests. This command didn't really make sense, for they were only supposed to go show themselves to the priests if they were healed. When Jesus commanded them to go, they still had leprosy. Christian, God's command doesn't always make sense, but our job is not to make sense of God's commands, our job is to obey His commands. If you wait to understand the commands of God, then you will never see the miracles of God.

Years ago it didn't make sense when God commanded me to go into full-time evangelism. I was twenty-one years of age and only had four meetings booked. However, I knew that God called me to be an evangelist, and I also knew that I must step out by faith to have God's blessings on my ministry. I am so thankful that I didn't wait to understand God's command, for if I did I would still be waiting to go into evangelism. You cannot wait for God's commands to make sense, you just need to obey God with whatever He commands you to do.

Third, for faith to step in it takes action. Action is the key to faith. Action is faith stepping in. Notice that these men were healed "as they went." A person without action is a person without faith. Christian, God will never work in your life in a great way without action. It is the busy Christian who sees God work in a great way. The great stories of faith always happened to those who acted. Those who sit never see the great works of God. If you want God to work through your life in a great way, then you must act.

Last, results happen when faith steps in. The action of faith produced the healing these lepers desired. Likewise, when you step out by faith, you will see the results of God working through your life. Stop waiting for results and simply step out on God's command for your life. As you act upon God's command, you will see God's great results in your life.