Passage of the Day:
At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. 41 Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah, Luke 4:40-41.
Reflection:
Today’s author is a first century doctor who uses the events within a 12-hour period to record these miracles. Based upon Luke’s time frame, Jesus started healing as the sunset and stopped at dawn, just before the sun rose. The first question that popped into my mind as I read today’s passage is did all of these individuals in need of healing wait all day because Jesus was busy? Or did these people simply travel from all over during the day and waited in line to be healed at sunset? Whenever the true context, each needy soul waited as long as necessary, up to 10 hours before being healed by Jesus. As an impatient person, this takes spiritual guts.
Prayerful Action:
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord, Psalm 27:14.
Developing the Spiritual Guts to Press On:
If I don’t do something around the house when it comes my mind, I tend to fall behind. The longer I push this off, the more out of control this situation becomes. Since the summer heat and humidity can be so extreme, summer projects will now need to be done this fall. When it comes to personal hearing, all the individuals who lined up to meet with Jesus couldn’t wait any longer. These specific conditions had become debilitating, creating a sense of urgency within each soul. When a spirit of fortitude conceives the drive to get a condition resolved, you’ll wait as long as necessary. This is the context all everyone who waited past sunset to finally receive healing.
Song of the Day:
Today’s lyrics speak to those individuals who think they can earn their way into heaven, Romans 3:9-12. True healing begins when you realize that you can’t do this on your own, John 3:16-17. Whether you are in desperate need of physical or spiritual healing, may today’s song give you hope to press on.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 