When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue." (Luke 7:4, 5 NASB)
It's easy to lose sight of the individual when we focus on the "stuff" of life, isn't it? That's what happened with the elders in this story. When they approached Jesus, they were asking Him to do what the centurion wanted. Their rationale was that he had been generous to the nation of Israel. Nothing in their conversation indicates a concern for the servant. The less important patient entered into their request only because of the centurion.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to fulfill a request for those who are most prominent in society. The problem comes when we are so focused on the ones on the top of the social ladder that we fail to notice the ones on the bottom of the social ladder. Before God, we are all just sinners saved by the mercy and grace of God. It took equal mercy for God to pay our penalty for sin. We should distribute equal grace.
In a time of great need, such as the one we are currently facing in our state, we need to be the ones looking for the need no one else has noticed. No one but Jesus. There will be many helping with the most obvious needs. Let's be the ones who look for the need only Jesus has seen. He cares for every single one. We should, too.
Pray today that our hearts would be filled with gratitude for the care God has lavished on us and filled with compassion for those who need His love. Pray, too, that our compassion will spur us to action and seeing our good works will bring glory to God and point the way to Him for those we love the most.
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Here's the link for last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/04/tupelo-tornado-seeking-to-save.html
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