I will always be a loyal fan of the King James Version of the Bible. However, I do lean on other versions to help me gain new insights fromHis Word. Perhaps the easiest to understand for our Scripture text today is this paraphrase from The Living Bible. “When Jesus had finished his sermon he went back into the city of Capernaum. Just at that time the highly prized slave of a Roman army captain was sick and near death. When the captain heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. So they began pleading earnestly with Jesus to come with them and help the man. They told him what a wonderful person the captain was. ‘If anyone deserves your help, it is he,’ they said, ‘for he loves the Jews and even paid personally to build us a synagogue!’ Jesus went with them, but just before arriving at the house, the captain sent some friends to say, ‘Sir,don’t inconvenience yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of any such honor or even to come and meet you. Just speak a word from where you are, and my servant boy will be healed! I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my men. I only need to say Go! and they go; or Come! and they come; and to my slave, Do this or that, and he does it. So just say, Be healed! and my servant will be well again!’ Jesus was amazed. Turning to the crowd he said, ‘Never among all the Jews in Israel have I met a man with faith like this.’ And when the captain’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.”
How strong is your faith? Do you believe that all it takes for our sovereign God to do is to simply speak the word and you can be made complete?
Sue Winchester
Missouri
PRAY TOGETHER: Pray for campus ministries such as CRU, (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) and the Navigators, as they seek to win souls and disciple young men and women on college and university campuses.
