Luke 5:11-13

"And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him."
Luke 5:11-13


This group of scriptures is the ending of one story and the beginning of another.  In the first, Christ has called his disciples, and they give up everything that they own, and leave everything that they know to follow him.  It always strikes me that some people were so taken with Christ that they would give anything for him, and others would fight against him no matter what.  Differences in perception... in subconscious memory?  Differences in the ability to connect with that Godliness that is within all of us, or just a greater ability to suppress it, built up over time?  Think about how a person would have to strike you for you to drop everything and leave everything for him.  I wonder sometimes if I would go, if Christ came knocking on my door... would I know it was him?  Could I just walk away from everything I know?  I hope I could... but it scares me a little.  I suppose, in a limited way, we do that when we go on a mission... we leave everything behind.  It isn't the same, because we know that we can come back... but still, making that commitment changes you.
The other part of this scripture is a man with leprosy.  In that culture, people with leprosy underwent a similar distancing from family and friends... because of their disease.  If they recovered, they could show themselves to the priest and be accepted back into society.  Obviously Christ has an overwhelming impact on this man as well, because upon seeing him, he immediately believes that this man can do what no-one can... heal him.  Restore his body, and allow him to return to society.
This scripture as well makes me think about my commitment to the Lord.  No matter what my particular disease of body, mind, or spirit... do I have the faith to say to the Lord... Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean?  Something I need to think about.