January 13
Faith
“Then Jesus went with them.” —Luke 7:6
Read Luke 7:1-10
In our Scripture passage we come across a remarkable centurion. One would expect that he would be a Roman oppressor of Jews, but in fact, he was not. On the contrary, he was a learned man who had an interest in the Jewish people. He built a beautiful synagogue for them. But more importantly, he esteemed the God of Israel. He found something in the service of the Lord that he could not find with the false gods. As a result, he showed love for his neighbour.
In those days, a slave was not worth any more than an animal. However, the centurion of our text loved his slave. When the slave became very ill, he sought for the Lord Jesus. In fact, he sought salvation for himself and for his servant. There are two more considerations:
First, he did not go to the Lord himself, but sent elders of the Jews. He felt himself unworthy of the Lord’s attention. It was the Lord’s work which brought this centurion to see something of his unworthiness. The Lord continues His work and saves those who see sin and unworthiness in themselves.
Second, take note of his faith: “But say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.” The Lord had not found such faith in all of Israel. And through this faith of the centurion his servant was healed. God worked miraculously in the life of this Gentile.
How did the centurion show his high esteem for the Lord Jesus?
This devotional was taken from “The Time of Your Life” a daily devotional published by the Youth & Educational Committee of the FRC. To order a printed copy of the book, contact: bookorders@frcna.org.