Humble Faith

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Matthew 8:5-8, 10, 13: When He [Jesus] had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Him, appealing to Him, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." And He [Jesus] said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion replied, "Lord I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed." ... When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who followed Him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith." ... And to the centurion Jesus said, Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Have you ever believed in something so strongly that you never let go of it? Was you faith so strong, that nothing would ever break your trust? I dare say, that this level of faith happens far less than I want it to. 

There is much about this event in Jesus' life. And there are two points about it I want to make. They are:

1. Humble Faith, and 
2. What Jesus did

Humble Faith:
The centurion KNEW what Jesus could do. He believed it to the point that Jesus did not even have to come to the house. The centurion BELIEVED that Jesus would heal his servant. There was no need for the centurion to come. In other words, the centurion could have said, "Jesus, I know that you will heal my servant. I am not worth the effort for you to come into my home."

Are we that strong and humble in our faith in Jesus? I dare say that we want to be more like the centurion than we are. We have a very hard time believing that strongly. We have too many doubts, too many reasons that lead us away from that level of faith. So what do we do?

Let Go and Let God. Focus on what Jesus did.

What Jesus Did:
There were probably a lot of reasons that would have easily kept the centurion from believing in what Jesus could have done. He didn't let it. He let his faith rule his life and not the reasons why not. He trusted Jesus and what Jesus did. 

And so will you. Trust Jesus. Jesus will do what He will do. Jesus heals lives by means of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus restores lives by His life. By His wounds we are healed. 

Believe that. Believe in Him. Father help me believe more fully, Amen.