The Hands-on Approach

by Nathan McGee.  Nathan and his wife Brooke began attending Cove Church in 2004.  Together they are C-group coaches, and Nathan also leads a small group of elementary boys in Kids Cove.  In addition, Nathan has served on the church board and various committees.

Jesus … reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”  - Mark 1:41

I read recently that touch is the first sense we develop; we begin receiving tactile signals even before birth as the vibration of our mother’s heart beat is amplified through amniotic fluid. It struck me as really cool to know that even before we know what is going on, we are comforted through touch.

Touch is an interesting topic for me as I am not naturally a touchy-feely type of person. People at work joke that I have an aversion to touch because I am not a “hugger.” While not totally true, this is somewhat accurate. I am not naturally drawn to lots of hugging and such, but I do see the value and importance of touch.

I was very blessed to grow up with parents who hugged me daily and never shied away from showing me their love. In fact, they still hug me every time they see me, which I do love, by the way. I have never once doubted that I was loved because it was demonstrated to me in many ways, and a big part of that was through physical touch.

As I have read a number of Bible stories recently, I have been led to stories about Jesus’ healings. In most cases I read where Jesus touched someone, or they reached out and touched Him and were healed. Think about that for a minute. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, reaching out to the unclean and needy and touching them or allowing them to touch Him! And here I am not wanting to hug a coworker! I’d never really considered the significance of this aspect of His healing until now.

As we look forward to Christmas, I have been hearing lots of discussions and prayers about the healing needed in our nation and world. I believe Jesus has already taught us one way we can help heal our world, and that is simply by reaching out and touching others and showing them the amazing love that comes from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.