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Just the Hem

by Jerry Ousley  
3/11/2011 / Christian Living

Hems remind me of sewing. I never could get the knack of that. I've tried, boy you better believe that I have! When buttons would come loose from my shirt for no apparent reason I'd try to sew them back on. I could get them to stay, at least for a month or two, but the thread pattern never matched the rest of the professionally stitched buttons. There'd usually be a string or two that stood out. And the back side well, I'm just glad no one could see the other side of that button!

I tried to sew an old tent one time. I thought that God had spoken to me to begin a tent ministry. I was only twenty-one years old at the time and another minister I knew who did some tent ministry had an old one he wasn't using anymore. I found out why. I spread that big canvas out over my grandmother's backyard and with a special needle began to stitch up the rips and tears. There were more of them than I could count. Pushing that needle through the canvas was not an easy chore, but I persevered. Finally getting the first large tear sewn together I thought, "Well, that just might work!" But then I pulled on it to make sure it would hold. After all, if it wouldn't hold from a quick yank it wasn't going to hold in a wind. To my utter disappointment it tore again, not in the place I had stitched but just below it. The canvas was so rotten that I was fighting a losing battle, so I lost heart and quit. That was the end of that.

Most clothing has a hem. In my ignorance of the manufacture of clothing I suppose it's to keep the shirt, pants or dress from unraveling at the bottom. But I would never attempt to try sewing a hem. I know that by the time I'd finish it would be one extremely uneven line!

In the days of Jesus their robes were all hemmed. One day Jesus was approached by Jairus, a leader of the local synagogue. His daughter was sick and dying. Jesus and His disciples went with him. On the way the crowds were thronging Him from all sides. I can imagine the pushing and shoving in such a crowd of people.

A woman who was described as having an issue of blood for twelve long years was also in the crowd. She had tried to get well. The Bible tells us in Luke 8:43-48 that she had spent all that she had on doctors in attempt to find a cure for her illness. But it wasn't just the illness. It was the discomfort and embarrassment as well. You see, according to the Law of Moses as found in Leviticus 15:1-7, anyone having an issue of blood was considered "unclean." Wherever they sat, no one else could sit until it had been cleansed. Whatever she lay on was also treated the same. For twelve long, hard years she endured the pain, the embarrassment and the shame.

But here was Jesus. She had heard of Him, this man from Nazareth who had healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, restored hearing to the deaf and rumor had it that He had even raised the dead! "Oh if I could just get to Him," she must have thought. She tried, but somehow she couldn't keep up. But now, standing just behind Him she looked down at his flowing robe. "Maybe, if I could only touch the hem of His garment perhaps that would be enough." She did. She bent over in a quick moment and touched the hem of his garment.

With all the people crowding around Jesus immediately stopped and said, "Who touched Me?" Who would propose such a question in that situation? His disciples asked Him, "Lord, all these people pushing and shoving and You ask who touched Me?" But we are told in the Bible that He felt power go from His body. The woman was afraid. Maybe she had done something wrong. So trembling she admitted to Him, "Lord, I touched you," and she continued telling Him her story. When she had confessed her heart Jesus told her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace" (verse 48).

Sometimes we just need to touch the hem of His garment. We all have needs, some greater than others. All of us at some point are desperate and need help. Jesus may not be walking the earth right now. But we can still reach out and touch the hem of His robe if only in faith. I want you to know today that He has power for all. Reach out today. Bend down and touch His hem.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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