Luke 13-C "Freed From a Disabling Spirit"

S = Luke 13:11-13 “And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, ‘Woman, you are freed from your disability.’ And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.”

O = While Jesus was teaching he was also observant as to the needs of the people there. This woman, though “a daughter of Abraham” (v.16), had been in this condition a very long time (18 years). She was bent over with her view only of earth, rather than heaven, she could not fully fix herself even temporarily straightening up. Jesus had to free her to stand up, to look up, and to give up glory to God. She was helpless to initiate any of this…yet she was able to respond to his call, receive his deliverance, and return glory to God.

A = I wonder how often I deceive myself in thinking that I can spiritually and morally straighten myself…to stand up on my own feet, to see all there is to see, to present myself as exemplary, when my self-reliance leaves me bent, bound and shuffling, unable to look up into the face of Christ? Yet when Jesus sees my need, he calls me over and sets me free with a word and a touch! The question is, will I come over when he calls or just shuffle away in my resigned self-effort?

P = O Lord, thank-you for calling me over, for lifting my eyes to behold your beauty, to experience life as one set free from disabling spirits of sins indulged and spirits of hurts and disappointments nurtured in bitterness. May I stand tall in praise of your grace this week. I praise you with all praise! Jesus is Lord! Hallelujah! Amen.