Matthew 8:14-15 - “When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.” 

Jesus wants more than to come into your heart.  He wants to come into your home, to your family, to touch the people closest to you and save them.  When we really put our faith into practice, our family life centers on the Lord, and our family members and loved ones receive His blessings as a result.  Many evangelistic messages today center around the verse in Revelation 3 where Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”  We are encouraged to open the door and let him in.  Yet this is not just the “door to your heart.”  Too many people treat their faith as a private matter between them and their Lord.  There is certainly a private dimension to our relationship with Christ, but there is also a public component – our integration into the Body, and our application of our faith within our home.

  God wants to touch even our least favorite family members!  There is some humor in the fact that Peter’s mother-in-law is the one who receives the miracle when Jesus came to his house.  Tensions with the mother-in-law are nearly universal – most cultures have mother-in-law jokes.  People often feel that their spouse’s mother interferes too much in their lives, is too opinionated about everything, and too demanding.  Biologically, she often outlives her own husband, so it is common that families have to take their elderly mother-in-law into their own home to live with them, a situation full of little inconveniences and frustrations.  Nobody ever reads this passage and asks, “What was Peter’s mother-in-law doing at his house?”  We almost expect her to be there. 

Yet Jesus touches her and heals her immediately.  We should ask him regularly to touch each one in our family, each one who has a need. 

Notice her reaction: she gets up and begins to serve.  This is the Lord’s plan for each one he saves and each one he heals – that we begin to serve him.  Unfortunately, many people never take this next step and become proactive in their faith.  This is God’s plan for each person – to work actively for his kingdom.  

This is the second blessing in this story, though.  Peter did not just receive healing in his household.  Another servant joined the disciples – another person was equipped to wait on the Lord and to help.  As we bring the Lord’s presence into our homes, and ask him to touch our families, the benefit goes beyond merely solving the immediate problem (health, finances, etc.).  More people join the Lord’s team of faithful servants.  This is a terrific blessing.  Not only does God want to give a blessing to your family members, he wants to integrate them into the Body and use them to serve others.