Faith!
By Jim Penner
“Assuredly I (Jesus) say to you, I have not found such a great faith; not even in Israel.” -Matthew 8:10
The words in Matthew 8:10 were spoken by Jesus to a soldier who had come to Christ and asked for his servant to be healed. The soldier had just said to Jesus that there is no need for the Master to even come to his house, for this soldier knows that all Christ has to do is say the word, and his servant will be healed. Jesus’ response that he had “not found such great faith” has always fascinated me. I read the words of Jesus in Matthew 8:10 and have so often pondered what kind of faith Jesus would call great.
In my lifetime, I have seen so many declare with conviction that they have faith that all things are possible, yet I somehow sensed there was a hesitancy to their words. That if they were placed on the witness stand before a great litigator, their faith would fold like a cheap tent in a stiff breeze. I for one am guilty as charged. Yes, I believe that with Christ, all things are possible, but there have been times in my life when I wondered why would He do it for me? Who am I? I’m not worthy of such a miracle from the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Early in my faith I remember going through a stage of reasoning that went something like this: Christ healed the sick, raised the dead, caused the lame to walk and the blind to see, but those are just the few who won the holy lottery. Miracles like that just don’t happen today, or if they do, they certainly would not happen for me. Can you relate?
Then I began to witness miracle after miracle happening around me. Miracles that could not be ignored. Great stories of cancers disappearing after prayer with no medical explanation. Sight returning to a man after leaving a church service. A clinically dead man coming back to life while lying in a body bag in a morgue just as his mother was praying for him long distance, several states away.
With each new story, my thoughts would drift back to the soldier in Matthew 8:10. What kind of faith did he have? By the way Christ reacted to him, his was not shallow faith, or a questioning faith, or a fence-walking faith. His was a faith of deep conviction. There was no question in his mind that all Christ had to do was say the word and it would be done. Yet, what convicted me the most was that the soldier was a stranger to Christ, someone Jesus had never met before. Yet, this soldier came to Jesus with a no-holds-barred, no-doubt-whatsoever kind of faith that this miracle worker he’d heard about had the power to heal his servant. From Christ’s reaction, we learn that this soldier, a perfect stranger, had more faith in Him than even Christ’s own disciples!
Now we come to you and I who love Jesus, who have invited Him in to our hearts as Savior, and call Him friend. Yet, so many times we walk through our daily lives with less faith than this soldier had!
My friends, let this story of the solider be a wake-up call to your faith! Jesus Christ performs miracles, yesterday, today, and tomorrow! The key is faith. If you need a miracle in your life, approach Jesus like the soldier did in Matthew 8. Don’t take my word for it. Open your Bible and go read the story for yourself. It will take you five minutes, but there is a miracle waiting for you at the end of that five minutes! When you ask the Lord – in faith, believing – miracles DO happen, and they WILL happen for you!
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What miracle do you need from Christ today? Ask Him!
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