Lessons from a Centurion (Date #3)

Tools are a beautiful thing when it comes to putting things together. But not all tools are made of graphite or steel or have the Phillips or flathead, or batteries or are yellow and black (but those are glorious things!) For me I find my greatest and most inspiring tools in life have been books. I am not your typical reader though. I have enjoyed my share of fictional works and truly enjoy the classics, but I find myself drawn to those books that challenge you to focus on the Savior. Whether it’s a marriage book, a leadership book, a book on purity or prayer or spiritual disciplines, I devour books that are written with a great love for the Lord and draw you in to those moments of spiritual bliss and revelation. Here are a few that have fed my soul deeply and transformed my life over the years.

Each of these had depth and transformed me in how I viewed my Savior, myself and those around me. They are fantastic tools. But there are some that I just keep going back to. I am sad that I cannot locate my all time favorite – Andrew Murray’s Absolute Surrender, and my other A.W. Tozer books because ANY Tozer is fantastic, but these are precious gems as well…

However, the ones I want to focus on today are these…

Each one is a different "version" - the top one is an inductive study Bible in the ESV, the little one is my NIV, the brown one is my NLT (this is my current go-to Bible that I've been reading through) and my Ryrie study Bible is NASB. Each has it's place in my heart for studying God's Word. The newest addition I introduced in the last post is simply called "The Books of the Bible." I do not own a chronological Bible so this is my first experience with something along those lines. Spending the next 40 days reading through it is exciting to me. Since I'm 2 days into it, I only have 38 days left. Today's reading is from Luke and focused on the ministry of Jesus. Here's the one of the passages I read and what it meant to me...

"When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, [he had just been preaching the sermon on the mount, in Luke it's abbreviated, but for a fuller picture of the sermon you can read in the Gospel of Matthew chapters 5-7.] he entered Capernaum. There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, 'This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.' So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: 'Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 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.' When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, 'I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.' Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well." 

So here I was on my date with Jesus and instead of finding Christ, I found a centurion! 

Let's look at this man for a moment. 

He's a centurion - a Roman army officer.

He values his servants and those who work under him.

He is highly esteemed by the Jews in the area, is respected by them and helped them build their synagogue.

He has good friends. 

He is humble..."Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you."

He is a man of great faith..."But say the word and my servant will be healed."

He knows Jesus is a great man with heavenly authority. 

This man's testimony was used to glorify God among the Jews. Jesus followers were the Jewish people, but the impact of His ministry while he walked this earth was far reaching. So great, that even the Roman Centurion recognized it and humbly requested Christ to show him favor. 

I love Jesus reaction to this man's faith - "he was amazed at him." How cool is that to know that man can amaze God. That's the kind of faith I long for, I desire, I want to overflow with. Faith that amazes my Savior!