when Jesus healed someone, the change was obvious. the blind could see, the lame could walk, demons were driven out and lives were changed. bartimaeus didn’t walk around with his eyes shut after Jesus restored his sight. that would be beyond ridiculous. lame people didn’t go back to their mats, and the cured lepers didn’t go back to their colonies. they didn’t ignore their healing, and the freedom that came with it.

why not?

well, the obvious looms at us first: why would they want to? would going back to the leper colony be more comfortable and familiar? was it easier to sit by the gate and beg like they had always done? what would their friends and family say? would they need to be responsible for more now? being sick required less effort after all.

the answer to these questions are equally obvious. this whole line of thought is crazy, and makes no sense to continue. even a child knows what needs to happen here. if you were sick, and you have been healed, you do not return to doing the same thing, living the same life. people would question your sanity in a very serious way if you did return to living that same life.

why would you ignore a miracle?

but when Jesus tells us that our sins have been forgiven, and to “go and sin no more,” why do we return to our old lives?

asking that question should have been obvious as well. you should have seen it coming a mile away, from the get go. it is elementary, it is simple to grasp, it almost goes without asking…yet for some reason we must continue to ask it because we continue to ignore the miracle.

if ou go to an aa meeting, you are supposed to be in the process of giving up alcohol. with each successive meeting, you move another step or two away from your old ways, your old life, and move into something new and wonderful: sobriety.

but when Jesus cleanses our hearts, we slowly move steps back toward where we were before. we slip back into what should have been a broken mold. we ignore the miracle.

why then, do we resign ourselves to old, dead ways of life? why do we return to the leper colony, when we have a clean home and family to return to? why do we resign ourselves to sin, when we have been given a way out?

we should go to church each week, saying, “hello. my name is ben and i was a sinner. i have been clean for 22 years now.” that ‘was’ is important, for plainly obvious reasons. we will continue to do these old things, live these old lives, if we are already mentally defeated by them. if we have spiritually given in to temptation before it arrives, then we will never truly follow Christ. we are following our flesh. we are ignoring the miracle.

when we are saved our lives will change.

when we are saved our lives will not remain the way they were before.

when we are saved, the old man is dead and gone.

when we are saved the new life in Christ begins.

when we are saved we do not return to wallow in filth.

when we are saved we seek the purity and righteousness of God.

change isn’t coming. change is here. it is not some far off ideal that we shouldn’t bother to pursue. while it is true that we cannot attain it on our own, or maybe in this lifetime, we do not abandon the chase. we do not resign ourselves to sin and corruption. we have been saved, sanctified and given a new purpose.

we cannot ignore the miracle. we cannot look Christ Jesus in the eye, say “oh, well,” and tuen back to our sin.

we cannot ignore the miracle. we cannot abandon our salvation, that is beyond sad and foolish. there is no word in the english language to describe the horror of doing this.

we cannot ignore the miracle. the rest of the world depends on us living this out and sharing what we’ve experienced.

we cannot ignore the miracle. our lives are no longer our own. in every sense imaginable, we have been purchased, and have no right to ourselves any more.

we cannot ignore the miracle. either we embrace Christ, or we push Him away. there is no middle ground here.

so make your choice.

ignore the miracle or embrace the Son.

you must choose one.