“The greatest ailment humanity faces is spiritual death.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – March 8, 2025
Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Mark 5:25-28, NKJV
We as a society spend countless millions of dollars annually in an attempt to deny, slow down, or even reverse the inevitability of aging. The promise of perpetual youth has the power to captivate our imaginations (and our wallets), even though it is nothing more than an illusion at best. And though there are remarkable advances in science and medicine that heal and transform the body as never before, there is a deeper ailment and more pervasive sickness that medicine and beauty treatments can never touch.
The greatest ailment humanity faces is spiritual death. We are creatures made for eternity, to know God and be known by him, and when that communion is severed, not only do our physical bodies age and grow weary, but our souls suffer from their lack of a living connection with the only source of life. Of course, the only way we have any life at all is if the Lord offers it and sustains us with his loving care. Yet we are meant to respond to this love, to live a life of thanksgiving, offering back to him that which he gives to us as a free gift.
In this well-known story from Mark 5, the woman with a flow of blood finds healing for her body and soul through a living encounter with the living God. I am especially moved by the words of verse 26. “She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.” Of course, on the surface this is a reference to her physical ailment. Yet there is a deeper truth at play. Is this not what each of us does in our own way? We try and heal ourselves – body and soul – searching endlessly for this or that remedy, yet when left to ourselves, we spend all that we have and are left worse than we were at the start.
It is when we reach the end of ourselves that we learn to embrace and even celebrate our limitations. It’s liberating not to be your own savior! You are set free from endless striving and attempts to lift yourself up by your own strength. And when you realize that Christ has come to give you eternal life, the trials and ailments of this present age can be viewed through a heavenly lens. Stay close enough to Jesus that you can touch the hem of his garment, and all will be made well.
Prayer
Father, keep us close to you, set free from the fleeting concerns of this world, and instead rooted in that which is timeless and true, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
Have momentary concerns distracted you from the eternal healing that Christ offers you through abiding communion with him?
Related Reading
Exodus 15:26; Psalm 103:2-3; Matthew 9:12-13
Worship Resource
Phil Wickham: His Name is Jesus
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