Touch the Hem

 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Him [Jesus], they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well. (Matt. 14:34-36)

 

It didn’t matter the sickness they had;

There wasn’t any disease too bad

That couldn’t be cured by coming to Him,

And touching only His garment’s hem.

 

Desperate faith made them dare to beseech

The God Who’d put Himself in their reach.

And all who touched were made perfectly whole –

“Saved through”* the plagues of body and soul.

 

“Touch the hem!” their story compels,

Joining the echo of all the true tales

Of lives changed – the whisper of centuries –

“Look up in faith to know Jesus!”

 

My soul, make this practice your reflex of faith:

Grab hold of His robe when problems would scathe.

Call out in earnest to Him Who loves you;

He is ever the One Who brings safely through!

 

And when you, my soul, grasp fabric in fingers,

Let His Words be the subject on which your mind lingers.

His Book and His Person – the best, truest gifts –  

Lifeline nothing can take, and that ever uplifts.  

 

 

 

*This is the literal meaning of the Greek word used at the end of Matt. 14:36, “diasozo”