| TODAY'S SCRIPTURE "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." (Hebrews 11:1-3)
TODAY'S WORD , it can be easy to be a person of faith when all is going well, when life makes sense, when trials are small and we feel in control of things. But how quickly faith can disappear when life gets hard, things go south and nothing makes sense! Here in this passage in John 4 we find an amazing example of a man of faith. John tells us that this man was an "official," which likely means he was a Roman military officer. And his son is ill-not just sick, but verse 47 says he was, "at the point of death." This was serious, so serious that this man is left begging for a miracle. Jesus' words to this desperate father are rather shocking, "Go, your son will live" (John 4:50). John says, "the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way" (John 4:50). Wow, what faith this man had! We know that he had an approximate sixteen-mile walk back to his hometown, but he leaves believing that his son would be healed! The text actually says that he "believed Jesus' word" and went home to see his son. Now this is a faith to emulate-to trust Jesus at His word and to act on it. Many of us would be tempted to want proof from Jesus or to insist that Jesus go with us back to our house. But not this man, for Jesus' word was enough for him as he had "assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Is this the kind of faith you have-a simple, yet confident trust and belief in Jesus' word? This is true faith-not trusting just in small things but believing and acting even when matters of life and death are at stake. Would your faith pass this sort of test? Perhaps right now you need to stop and pray, asking God to strengthen your faith such that even in the major areas of life you would have an assurance and conviction in the person and word of Jesus. Perhaps pray the very words of another parent with a demon possessed boy when he cried out to Jesus, "I believe, help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). A PRAYER FOR YOU TODAY Lord, I want a confident trust in You and Your word. Show me the areas in my life where my faith is lacking. Strengthen my faith even in matters of life and death. Help me trust in You and not my circumstances or emotions. In Jesus' name, Amen. |
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