Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Faith that has to be Enriched
Matthew 8:5-13

Jessie Samuel
St. Andrews MTC, NY
13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.” And the servant was healed in that hour.

By this point in chapter 8, Jesus had just finished His great speech, known as the Sermon on the Mount. Over the course of the next few chapters, Jesus spoke to His power and authority over people and things.
 
    The passage in which the centurion came to Jesus on behalf of his paralyzed servant speaks to the power of Jesus’ words. By His command, He was able to heal the sick. It takes immense faith for the centurion to ask Jesus for such a thing! The fact that this request was made by a Gentile and not a Jew makes this passage more powerful.
 
    The centurion could have let many obstacles stand between him and Jesus such as pride, doubt, money, time, and power. But he didn’t.  A centurion, by definition, is a commanding officer in the Roman army. Roman soldiers were  hated by Jews for their control and oppression. So we can imagine the faith it took this man to approach Jesus. Jesus then turns to the crowd and explains that many religious Jews who should be in the kingdom would be excluded because of their lack of faith. Because of their traditions, they could not accept Christ as their Messiah. We must be careful not to limit God by our mind-set and lack of faith. What keeps us from going to Christ?
    I believe that Jesus’ message is for everyone. Each person can choose to accept or reject the gospel. Also, no one can become part of His kingdom based on connections or tradition. It’s up to us to believe and follow Christ.

PRAYER

Father, we thank You for giving us another day. Help us to enrich our faith in the same way that the centurion believed in Christ. Help us to apply what we’ve learned in our daily lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
God will not reward fruitfulness, He will reward faithfulness.” - Billy Graham 


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