When Jesus was going into the town of Capernaum, an army officer came up to him and said, “Lord, my servant is at home in such terrible pain that he can’t even move.” “I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied.
But the officer said, “Lord, I’m not good enough for you to come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. I have officers who give orders to me, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I can say to one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I can say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I can say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he will do it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised that he turned and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you that in all of Israel I’ve never found anyone with this much faith! Many people will come from everywhere to enjoy the feast in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the ones who should have been in the kingdom will be thrown out into the dark. They will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”
Then Jesus said to the officer, “You may go home now. Your faith has made it happen.” Right then his servant was healed.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
According to information found at http://usps.com - the website of the U.S. Postal Service - the "motto" we all can quote in some form is not actually the Postal Service's official slogan.
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.""Official" or not, many of us depend on this sentiment - and the regularity of our mail delivery. We count on bills and payments being delivered promptly. We expect many of the products we order or send to be shipped expeditiously and with some semblance of care. For some of us, accurate and efficient postal delivery is the heart of our business and livelihood! And we have confidence that we can stick a letter or parcel in a mailbox and trust that it will arrive at the appointed destination within a predetermined amount of time.
While the Postal Service has no official motto, the popular belief that it does is a tribute to America's postal workers. The words above, thought to be the motto, are chiseled in gray granite over the entrance to the New York City Post Office on 8th Avenue and come from Book 8, Paragraph 98, of The Persian Wars by Herodotus. During the wars between the Greeks and Persians (500-449 B.C.), the Persians operated a system of mounted postal couriers who served with great fidelity.
The postal system is not infallible. When we mail a letter or a package, we must accept that it may not be delivered as expected. This doesn't happen often...but it only takes one undelivered parcel - or a piece of mail that arrives so mangled you can't possibly restore it - to disappoint us and cause us to doubt the "system". When the Postal Service operations work as designed, they are wonderful. But like most "systems" in life, this one isn't perfect.
Here's the thing...Jesus IS perfect! He will never fail to deliver. We can depend on Him to do what He has promised - every single time. When Jesus tells us in Scripture that He will heal us, we can believe it. This may not happen in exactly the manner we desire or expect...or on our timetable...but it will happen! When Jesus tells us that all who call on His name and make Him the LORD of their lives will be with Him in Paradise for all of Eternity, we can rest assured that this will be the case. When Jesus tells us that He is always with us, we can believe Him - and call on Him 24/7 for anything and everything.
My question for today is this...How can we put so much faith and trust in a system like the US Postal Service - and not trust in the words and promises of Jesus Christ? How can we so readily believe that an envelope or package placed in a metal box at the end of our driveway will be sent to someone halfway around the world, yet doubt the power of Jesus Christ to heal us and meet our every need? How can we so blindly accept the assurances of mere mortals that "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"...yet question whether Jesus will truly love us unconditionally, forgive our sins, and offer us unending grace, mercy, restoration - and Eternity in His presence?
The time has come for us to assess our faith...to get into such a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ that He is at the top of the list when it comes to trust issues. We may not have confidence in much - especially the "human" things of this world - but we must know who Jesus truly is and what He is capable of doing in our lives. Do you know this today? Are you like the soldier who believed that just asking Jesus to heal His child could make it so? Do you know Who REALLY delivers in your life? Isn't it time you did?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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