No Greater Faith

The faith God gave us is His faith, perfect in every way.  We must learn to use it to its fullest.

Text for Today – Matthew 8:10 – When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

What a remarkable statement for Jesus to make.  What had He seen to provoke such a statement?  What had taken place?  A Roman centurion had come to Jesus on behalf of his servant who needed healing.  His words revealed to Jesus that he was a man with deep understanding of authority, of chain of command.  He plainly told Jesus it was not necessary for Him to come to his house.  All he asked of Jesus was that Jesus would speak the Word.  The centurion had recognized how Jesus used His faith as his servant, and at the same time, how Jesus lived a disciplined life of one who was under the authority of another; in this case, His heavenly Father.

Jesus had seen faith exercised often in His ministry.  Time after time, He had encountered people with great needs.  He would speak to them, or touch them, or command something of them.  Whenever they responded obediently to what Jesus said, or simply believed what they were told by the Lord, the results were that the Word worked; every time.

But this man was a Roman.  He had no covenant as a Hebrew with the Lord.  Still, he came with a rich understanding of faith and how it worked.  “Speak the word only,” he said, “and my servant shall be whole.”  Jesus did just what He was asked to do, and what He was asked happened just as it was asked.  Oh, that we, members of the body of Christ, having eternal and unbreakable covenant with Jehovah God, would learn from this event, and approach our Lord the same way. 

Tell me, what has God said about you?  Has He called you righteous?  Has he said you were healed?  Has He called you the “head and not the tail?”  Has He made you more than a conqueror, an overcome in fact?  The answer to each of these questions is an emphatic “YES!”  For us, all He needs to say about us is already written in His Word.  When any enemy tries to convince us otherwise, all we need do is respond as Jesus did by saying, “It is written.”  Of course, you have to know it is written.  You need to know His Word.  It needs to be written in your heart.  Your mind needs to be renewed to it.  You need to allow His mind to function in you, helping you bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.  He has authored and finished your faith.  How can any believer doubt that He would do less for them than the centurion?

Manna for Today – Hebrews 11:1-6; Romans 4 & 5