And she served them...

Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.

We like to hold on to our pasts. Whether it's pretty or not, we remember what's happened to us. Maybe it's because it's hard to erase something from our memory bank, or maybe it's because we like to hold on to it - because who knows when it might come in handy...

These verses in the first chapter of Mark are brief, but for some reason they caught my attention and have held me captive for a few days. If you put this in the 'miracle class', it's probably somewhere on the lower end of the spectrum simply because there's not much to it, and not a lot of time is spent talking about it. Basically, Peter's mother-in-law was sick with a fever...and Jesus made her better. Not really as exciting as walking on water, is it? The shocking thing that stood out to me, though, was not that Jesus just walked right in and lifted her out of bed and cured her fever, the shocking part of the story is the very last sentence: And she served them.

The reason this four word sentence took me by surprise was that those four words is all there is to it. Her fever left her, and she served them. So many times we let things that are in the past become excuses for our lack of obedience. Things that Jesus has lifted us from become a stumbling block to us. A lot of people have huge situations that they claim Christ has saved them from, yet there is still this emotional baggage.

Peter's mother-in-law didn't fumble around complaining about all the things that she missed while she was lying sick in her bed; she got up and she served. We like to get up, tell everyone how bad we've had it, then say, "I'd like to be able to do that, but I've had a rough few days...I need a little rest." This un-named lady whom Jesus cured could have just laid in bed and rode it out until the disciples had left, but she didn't. She served.

Many times we make the messages in the Bible a lot more difficult than they actually are. There have probably been great preachers deliver powerful sermons about this exact Scripture, but to me the meaning is quite simple and clear:

As believers, God has lifted us all up from our sick-bed.

Our disease has left us.

Will we serve Him?