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Saved to Serve

                 I am the type of person that looks for patterns in everything.  I see pictures in the clouds (“Ooh, that looks like a monkey in a top hat”) and I often see faces in trees.  It should be no surprise, then, that when I approach the Bible, I look for patterns. 
                One of the benefits of looking for scriptural patterns is that it allows us to learn from passages that we would overlook otherwise.  Mark 1:29-31 is a good example.  It says, “As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them”.   It would be easy to read this passage and never really think about it, but there is a pattern contained within it that we must understand.
                The first thing to notice is that wherever Jesus goes, he brings healing.  In this case, it was a physical healing.  In other cases, it was a spiritual healing from things like demon possession, guilt, fear and, ultimately, sin.  This should not surprise us as Jesus himself said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour” (Luke 4:18-19).  Where Jesus is, healing takes place.
                The second pattern to notice is that we are healed so that we can serve.  Immediately after being made well, Peter’s mother-in-law starts helping others.  We are not saved to sit.  We are not made to be consumers.  Those who have been saved are to help save others.  When we miss this part of the pattern, the church becomes selfish, weak and, eventually, useless.
                One must be careful with “pattern theology”.  Not every example is worth following.  However, when you see a pattern starting to form, it is time to pay attention.  Like Jesus, we can bring healing by making things better wherever we go and like Peter’s mother-in-law we can knowledge our blessings by blessing others.
                That is a pattern worth repeating.

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