They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?” “Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.”
Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.” Then their eyes were opened, and they could see! Jesus sternly warned them, “Don’t tell anyone about this.”
Matthew 9:28-30
We live in a self-promotion kind of world. As children we promote ourselves in sports to show what we can do, in the hopes of making the team. As high school seniors, we promote ourselves based on our grades and achievements to get into our choice of college. After college, we promote ourselves to get a job, and then continue to promote ourselves into the highest level job possible. If we don’t, we are led to believe that we won’t succeed.
Jesus, however, showed us a very different way to live! He didn’t go around promoting Himself. He didn’t tell people all the great things He was doing. He just did the work of God, and His authority, His heart, and His compassion said enough. The thousands of people who followed Him didn’t follow Him because he was boastful. They followed Him because He was a humble teacher who helped people, and He gave all the glory to His Father! Jesus didn’t want these men to tell because He didn’t want His miracles to get in the way of His message! He wasn’t a sideshow; He was their SAVIOR! And He came to restore far more than the mens’ sight; He came to restore all of creation!
The Bible is full of no-name people like these men who believed in and trusted Jesus. They were miraculously healed, and their faith tells their story. What about you? Is your story all about self-promotion and based on your own works? Or is it about a life-changing faith and the endless grace, perfect love, and infinite power of Jesus? Now that your eyes have been opened, go tell EVERYONE!! You are loved!