“An Act Of Worship.”

  

Mark 1:29-31 After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away. So he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and helped her sit up. Then the fever left her, and she prepared a meal for them. 

As a woman with my own home to keep up, I was struck by this simple act ~~ “preparing a meal for them.”  Zero in in with me, Girlfriend, on a few points here …

Notice the word: meal.   This woman, Simon’s mother-in-law, was ill to the point of being confined to her bed.  As women with the responsibility of a household, we rarely take “a day off.”  It takes great illness to even convince most of us to take a nap or rest during our busy days.  Simon’s mother-in-law was confined to her bed with a high fever, and I’m sure while she lay there her mind was thinking about the countless other things she could’ve been doing.  Nonetheless, Jesus met her there ~~ in the midst of her need ~~ and healed her.  Her response: she got up to cook!  Have mercy!!

Meal ~~ she didn’t merely offer them drink ~~ she didn’t say, “come back tomorrow and I’ll have a feast waiting for you.”  Her first response was to show gratitude with service.  This was her act of worship to God.

Them ~~ she prepared a meal for more than one person.  Let’s consider this, Girlfriend, beyond “last minute guests,” showing up at your house unannounced, she has just recovered from being bedridden and she is up and serving a group of guests.  We all know how it feels to have unannounced guests suddenly show up at our doorsteps ~~ that slow “meltdown” kinda feeling pours all over your insides and a slight fear starts to well up within you, beginning with, “now, how am I going to pull this one off?!”  Much less if you’ve been under the weather.  No, this woman was UP!

I take a Lesson from this precious woman ~~ she didn’t hesitate.  God gave to her restored health.  She gave back in her most natural way ~~ service.

So many times I think we hurry through our blessings ~~ God answers our prayers in a way we hope He would ~~ and we are so quick to shout out an “Amen,” then on to other things.  I tend to think that she even sat down to enjoy the meal with them; after all, Simon was her son-in-law.  She had communion with them ~~ and most importantly, with her Healer Creator.  My mind even wanders into her possible thought process as she prepared this special meal.  She may have slaughtered her choice lamb or goat and selected premium spices.  With great care and a huge smile on her face she may have kneaded her dough for the bread ~~ contemplating how blessed she was to have Jesus for her guest of honor.  

She gave back in worshipful service ~~ doing what she knew to be her BEST ~~ in loving response to God.  Worship is not merely confined to the singing and praise offered up during a church service.  Worship is also the way you live.  If you’re a Believer, the way you live out your life ~~ behavioral mannerisms, choices that we make, activities with the talents and skills we’ve been given ~~ they all attest to Whom you worship.

“How do you tend to thank God for the blessings He showers upon you?”  Like this woman exampled for us, are you swift to get up and worship?

The Scripture passage above doesn’t detail the event much ~~ just the facts.  A woman is sick, Jesus shows up, then she is no longer sick, and she thanks Him by cooking for Him.  End of story.

Part of me says it may not have been so simple.  It earned her recognition into the Word of God for all of us to read about hundreds of years later.  God felt it was worth mentioning.  I believe that it’s worth following.

Let’s commit to being more mindful of our every blessing, Girlfriend, and respond with genuine gratitude in worship to the Giver of all good gifts.

I love you to Heaven and Back, Girlfriend ~~

LindaRJohnson

T2T Visionary