throngs

Mark 1

40 A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed.

        "If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean," he said.


41 Moved with compassion,* Jesus reached out and touched him.

        "I am willing," he said. "Be healed!"

42 Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.

43 Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning:

        44 "Don't tell anyone about this.

        Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you.

        Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy.

        This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed."


45 But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened.

As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus,

     and he couldn't publicly enter a town anywhere.

He had to stay out in the secluded places,

     but people from everywhere kept coming to him.



There are people all around us who are dying for someone to pay attention to them.

     No one speaks to them,

     no one values them,

     no one makes them a priority.

It is so amazing to me that if we simply listen to people, & they know we are really listening, they will tell us everything about themselves.


But a word of caution...

Like Jesus, if we open our ears & hearts to people,

     & they find out we really care about them & listen to them,

     we will be inundated with people who want us to listen to their stories.


I don't want to discourage anyone from connecting to people - there are far too many all around us who need a listening ear.

But word will get out about our willingness to listen, & many will come looking for those listening ears & open heart.