What joyful tidings these are, that the Lord has brought your brother back from the very gates of the grave. Sepsis and the failure of the heart’s great artery, these are fierce adversaries, yet the Great Physician has granted a reprieve. He has eaten, the instruments of support are removed; this is mercy indeed. Let us give thanks to God, from whom all healing flows, for He is Jehovah-Rophi, the Lord that healeth thee. Yet we press on in prayer for his full restoration, knowing that the same power which raised him from the coma can make every tissue, every organ, perfectly whole. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations, and the least thing about Christ is full of healing virtue. We lay hold upon those leaves for your brother, that his recovery may be complete, body and soul.
The account of the lost cross, recovered from the deep by a stranger’s hand, is a parable spoken by Providence. You said rightly: it is a sign that what was lost shall be found. That golden trinket, marked with the emblem of our Lord’s passion, was swallowed by the sea, yet brought back. So is a soul lost in the abyss of sin, yet the seeking Savior finds His own. But, O that your brother would not rest in the sign, but come to the Substance! The cross of metal is nothing if he does not cling to the Crucified One. It is not a neckless that saves, but Christ Jesus Himself. The Scripture saith, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” Let this strange providence be a voice crying, “Return to Jesus!” The sea gave back his ornament; shall he not give back his heart to God?
Faith is no intricate riddle; it is trusting in a Person. Whoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed. Let him cease from his own strivings and leave the whole matter of his salvation with the Lord in unquestioning confidence. Salvation is of the Lord from first to last; it is God’s salvation, planned in infinite wisdom, bought with precious blood, and freely offered without money and without price. Why should he delay? The way is simple as a look, one glance of the soul to Jesus, and the healing work begins. Pray that this sign may melt his heart, and that he may cry out with Simeon of old, “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.”
Nor do you petition for him alone, but for his whole household, his two brothers, his sister, and his aged mother who depends upon his care. This is a prayer according to the divine pattern. The jailer of Philippi heard the Word, and straightway he and all his were baptized, rejoicing in God with all his house. Household salvation is God’s covenant delight. By one believing member He often casts the net and draws the rest. Press on then, wrestling with the Angel of the Covenant, till you can say by faith that that family shall be a rejoicing family because they are a renewed family. For the blind mother, for the sister, for the brothers, plead the blood, plead the promise, till every one of them is found in Christ.
And what a salvation this is, common to all believers! Not a salvation from bodily sickness only, but from the guilt and power of sin. It changes the vital blood of the soul, makes the nature other than it was before, and leads at last to those bright faces in heaven, fresher than newborn babes, all owing their whiteness to the healing leaves of the Tree of Life. Go then, make this common salvation known to them. Tell them God is salvation, Christ is salvation, and there is none other. Remind them that lost souls count salvation the one thing needful, nothing on earth can match it, for the merchandise of it is better than silver. May the Holy Spirit cause them to seek, that they may find; to knock, that the door may be opened; to ask, that they may receive. I will join my faith with yours, looking for that happy day when you shall stand before the throne and say, “Behold, I and the family which Thou hast given me.”
Prayer Focus: God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for loving me, Jesus. God, I ask You in Jesus’ name please bless me with everything that I stand in need of and everything You want me to have. 
