Today´s reading:
OT: Genesis 23, Genesis 24:1-51
NT: Matthew 8:1-17
Ps: Psalm 9:13-20
Pr: Proverbs 3:1-6
Gospel Thread – OT:
I am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.
Genesis 23:4 (NIV)
Faith: the vehicle through which the believer receives salvation. Abraham demonstrates his faith in chapter 22, by requesting a burial place in the land of Caanan, in which he was still an alien and stranger. Paul explains Abraham’s faith in Hebrews 11:13-16 (NIV):
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Abraham believed that the nation he would beget would one day possess the land in which he lived in tents – and he believed so much so, that he bought land in which he and Sarah could be buried. We are called to this kind of faith: to call things that are not, as though they are (Romans 4:17).
Gospel Thread – NT:
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
Matthew 8:8-10 (NIV)
The ultimate purpose of the gospel is not merely the salvation of the individual, but the restoration of Christ’s rightful place of authority over all creation. Jesus realized that the centurion not only understood the principle of authority in the spiritual realm, but also recognized Jesus as the rightful, sovereign ruler of that realm. Jesus credits that understanding and recognition as the greatest faith He has observed in all of the land of Israel.
This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”
Matthew 8:17 (NIV)
From the NIV footnotes, this verse fulfills Isaiah 53:4.
Gospel Thread – Psalms/Proverbs:
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
For the believer, the gospel doesn’t just mean salvation from sin and its wages. The believer also has access to the will and direction of the Father, who desires to guide each of us in His perfect plan for our lives. Once we are released from our slavery to sin, we have the freedom to pursue God’s holiness, and His plan.
OYB Photo of the Day:
Proverbs 3:5-6
Photo © Inspirational Bible Verse. Used with permission.
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