Luke 7: 6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:
Normally, 2 kinds of people do not hesitate to invite a person: one who has nothing or one who has everything.
A person having very little will share whatever little they have and is happy they have that little to share, while a person having everything will want to flaunt what they have so as to make the other person feel blessed to know them.
In today’s scripture, we see a Centurion whose servant was seriously ill unto death had pleaded for help from Jesus through some Jews. They came to Jesus, asking for His help, for the Centurion was good to the Jews and had built a synagogue for them.
We see Jesus instantly opted to help and went alone to the Centurion’s house. I am sure Jesus did not go because he was a Centurion or because he had built a synagogue. Jesus went because He saw someone who truly loved God, and this was visible in his love and concern for his servants.
A Centurion is no ordinary person; in today’s world that person would be no less than a Police Commissioner or Lieutenant General. Such a person was not poor in any way but reasonably rich. Such a person, knowing that Jesus was coming to his house, sent his friends to say his house was not worthy to receive Him.
When we apply this situation to our lives, we shamelessly claim Christ lives in me, or invite Him into our lives, even though we are filled with evil, filth of this world, or consider our lives rich, full of religious deeds, social deeds, righteous works, etc.
Do we think Christ would come to dwell in us?
Christ will only come if He sees something that relates to Him, like repentance, love, mercy, faith, etc.
Let us look inside ourselves: what of Christ is there within us that we can invite Him, or be assured He is dwelling within us?
[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You are Almighty God. You are God, and everything that exists is made by You. There is nothing of this world that we can offer other than ourselves, our circumcised/repentant hearts, our love, our worship. Lord, we pray we always check ourselves and refine ourselves to be worthy t have You as part of our lives…
This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
[Reference Scriptures]
Luke 7:2-5
2 And a certain centurion s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.
3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:
5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.