Matthew 8:18-20 - Jesus saw many people and told them to go to the other side of the lake. A teacher of the Law came to Jesus. He said, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes. Birds have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
The crowds followed Jesus down the hillside where he had been teaching them. They saw many people healed from diseases such as leprosy….paralysis….and high fevers. Each person healed had an amazing faith in this man they barely knew to fix whatever was wrong. It wasn’t just the fellow Jews that trusted in his supernatural powers. Even a Roman centurion came to ask Jesus to heal his servant’s child. His faith was so strong that he believed Jesus could heal him from across the distances with a simple word telling the ailment to go.
Jesus saw a danger in following Him just because of the healing he could do….just because they believed in what he was teaching them. He used the words of one Religious leader who bragged he would go anyplace Jesus went to remind us of the high cost of following Him. Jesus knew in that moment that these people would never follow Him all the way to the cross….scripture in 2 Chronicles 18 and 1 Kings 22 even prophesied that fact to Him.
I admit that I am one who lacks the faith of these people that were healed by Jesus. I want to think that I am strong enough to follow Him no matter what…but hold back because of family responsibilities or fear of the future that might hold for me. I have let go of many material things in my life…but the reality is that I cling to several things that I should be able to let go of more easily. I am so like that religious leader…ready to speak out and say that I will follow God wherever he leads…but timid on the inside…knowing that my heart has a hard time thinking of giving up everything for Christ.
I want to be more like those people that Jesus healed….heart so desperate for Jesus to heal them that they immediately stopped and gave Him everything else that they had. They knew in their heart that He was their sole means of survival. I do believe I have made a good start…for I Know without doubt that my worst day with Jesus was far better that my best day without him.
Father…thank you for the reminder that I constantly need to let go of more of the world…so you can fill me up with more of the childlike faith that will give me the power that you used to heal and help the people that came to you. Forgive me for the times that I have clung to things that I thought I needed….thinking that they would bring me happiness and success. Show me how to let go of anything that holds me back from deepening my faith in you to the point that I too can use the great power of you r love to help others. Amen.
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