Day of Praise

Thur, 01/31/19, "Day of Praise"

"Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, 'My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.'" - Mark 5:22-23

"When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, 'If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.'" - Mark 5:27-28

The long sequence of the Bible which includes the two little sections above is often subtitled by translators as "The Dead Girl and The Sick Woman" because that's who needs the healing that Jesus will give. It reminds us that God values young and old alike and will bring healing to both when it's in the bounds of his will. 

However, I myself prefer another subtitle for the sequence that includes "The Dead Girl and The Sick Woman." I prefer "The Rich Man and The Poor Woman." My reason is that we celebrate how God is the giver of faith. We are also given to celebrate that God, in addition to giving faith, works to lead us as to where we should place the faith that God gives us. 

I know a guy who was so down on God that he told me that it was just as useful to place my faith in "that doorknob over there as it is to place it in 'some god.'"

I'm not sure, but I'm guessing when that guy said that, it was another time that "Jesus wept."

Friends, whether you're rich or poor, we are constantly being assaulted in this world as to where we place our faith. A good barometer for where you've placed your faith is to think about what changes your mood. 

The movements of the stock market change some people's mood. 

The outcome of a game changes others. 

The result of an academic test changes the mood of some homes. 

Some moods are affected by weather. 

The size of the stack of Christmas gifts changes some moods.

The list could go on forever because the list for objects of misplaced faith is endless.

But Friends, God works to lead us as to where we place the faith that God gives us. And God would lead us, as "The Rich Man and The Poor Woman" in Bible days, to place our whole faith in God's Living Word, who is His Son, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. For, come what may, in Christ alone is there peace for the present moment and hope for the moments to come. 

God gives faith. And God leads us to place that faith in Jesus. 

Praise God!