Have you ever been sick and just wanted to get better? If you’re like most people, your answer is, “Of course!” Now imagine being chronically ill or afflicted. I know some of you don’t have to imagine it, neither do I. If you were healed right now of whatever is burdening you, you’d shout for joy, wouldn’t you? I cried for joy when I was delivered from IBS and a lifelong sleep disorder. In fact, I still rejoice because of God’s mercy on me.

If you were healed today. Other than shouting for joy, how else might you express it? Again, I know some of you also blog, so you’d write about it. I also know that most of you would also testify about it elsewhere. The point is that when something astonishing happens in our lives, we’re not quiet about it. We want to tell others about it and usually don’t want to stop talking about it. If we were to write about it, we wouldn’t do so in a single sentence. Yet, in the New Testament, we read about even more extraordinary miracles than that in just one or two sentences, and if we’re not careful, we might miss their magnitude.

When the apostle Paul’s ship crashed near the island of Malta, Paul (through the Holy Spirit) heals the father of the chief official on the island. Then, we are given this information.

When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured.

Acts 28:9 (NIV)

In 1,000 AD, the population of Malta was 20,000. We might surmise, then, that the population of Malta around 62 AD was several thousand people or so. This verse tells us that everyone on the island who was sick was healed. If you look at a map of Malta today, you’ll notice a bay called “St. Paul’s Bay.” I imagine Paul crashing at Malta and healing everyone was a big deal. Big enough that they named a bay after the occasion.

This healing in Acts isn’t the only time we read about something amazing in just one verse.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Matthew 4:23 (NIV)

I can only imagine if Jesus showed up today in Sacramento and healed everybody of every disease and sickness. Think about what would be said about that! In news coverage alone, that would be far more than one sentence. This is why it makes sense when we read the following verse from Matthew 4.

News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.

Matthew 4:24 (NIV)

For all the people healed, we have these two sentences telling us about them. Picture, for a moment, in the book of your life, the following sentence:

____________ was healed today.

What kind of testimony would come from that one sentence? This kind of testimony is what we’re missing if we read through a verse telling us everyone was healed, and we don’t even think about it. Perhaps you don’t need healing today. Think about someone who does need healing. Now, how about something more significant than physical healing?

____________ was saved today.

Which of those two is more remarkable? In Acts 28, we read about the ship Paul was on and how it was utterly destroyed while everyone on board was saved from the wreck. When I think about the ship being wrecked, and everyone saved, I think about how some people aren’t going to be healed while they are on this side of heaven. For some of us, our bodies may not be restored today, yet our souls are saved like those 276 men who swam to the shores of Malta on thin planks of wood but were saved. We, too, must continue to press on toward the shores of heaven, where one day, we will be healed and delivered from every infirmity. The greatest of which is death.

Do you know God? God knows you, and he loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, and he wants you to know him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so we could be free of guilt, freed from death, and live eternally with him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation:

Lord Jesus, forgive me for all my sins. I repent from my ways. Wash me in your blood and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I believe that you died on the cross, were buried, and on the third day, God the Father raised you from the dead. Right now, Lord Jesus, I open the door to my heart and receive you into my heart as my Lord and personal Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment, and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

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