“Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So, the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one!” Matthew 12:13
All eyes were on Jesus, but not all were looking to see what great thing He might do next. There were skeptics in the crowd who wanted to do nothing but catch Jesus in a trap. They weren’t interested in anyone being healed, they just wanted to protect their religious traditions.
For the man needing to be healed, he was faced with a choice. As Jesus called him to the front of the synagogue, he had to decide if he would save himself from embarrassment or come clean. When Jesus asked him to hold out his hand, would he put his best hand forward, as he had most certainly done throughout his life, or would he expose his deformity and hold out his withered, deformed hand for all to see.
When you hear the phrase “hold out”, you may think of someone who is resistant. In the sporting world, that phrase could pertain to the athlete who’s “holding out” signing a contract with a team because he’s waiting for a bigger deal. But, in the case of the man standing in front of Jesus, he decided to be a different kind of “hold out.” He decided to hold out his frailty; that part of him that was not up to par, his weakness and that thing in his life that only a touch from Jesus could fix.
Let me encourage you today to be a “hold out” too. Don’t hold back that weak area in your life that may cause you embarrassment but hold it out to Jesus today and let Him heal.