# 282 – Today's Living Word comes from Mark 3:3,4 “Then He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill.”
The man with the withered hand is told by Jesus to “step forward.” Jesus wanted him to be front and center. He is to serve as a visible example for the Pharisees and for us as well. See the withered hand? See the need? You can't miss it, it is right before your very eyes.
Will you respond to that need or will you withhold mercy? What can YOU do to extend mercy to this individual? Jesus is able to heal the hand and HE will, but He challenges us here to face the age old problem of apathy, fueled by legalism. This is the parable of the Good Samaritan brought inside the church walls.
When faced with the needs of others, such as a withered hand or any other kind of malady, the question is, will we do good, or look for ways to justify our walking on the other side of the road.
To ignore the need, to withhold mercy is to do evil. The Holy Spirit speaking through James puts it this way: Jas 4:17 “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
You and I may not be called upon to heal someone, but you and I are called upon to extend mercy. You and I will likely encounter someone in need of mercy today. Will we extend it, or look for a legalistic excuse to avoid it?
Are we really looking to be legalistic? Do we really want to follow the Law? “The commandments are summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law.” (From Romans 13:9,10)
I’m Duane Matz and that’s today’s Living Word.
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