Day 91
Numbers 31:25-32:42, Luke 8:40-9:9, Psalm 40:1-8
For me, there is a significant moment in the life of the people in Numbers. There is a great deal of regulation over what the people are to give to the Lord, the form that their offering is to take. Even the "freewill" offerings have had a fair amount of rules placed on them. And then in vv48-50 the officers of the army of Israel, give an offering of thanks to God. It doesn't have a name, it seems to have come straight from the heart. They were taking stock after the battle, they saw how good the Lord had been and they just wanted to say thank you. Now that is a freewill offering.
And then the Gospel calls for a certain amount of giving. It takes a lot of effort to have faith in someone. It is not just about following them, it is about giving your all. With some of the things that Jesus has done, common sense goes out the window. The woman has been bleeding for years, the little girl is dead, common sense says that there is not going to be much that this man can do. He healed others but some people need to see to believe. And yet these people gave up all of that, they gave their hearts to him and they trusted him. Jairus trusted him with the most precious of things, the life of his daughter.
But the end of the Gospel and start of he psalm pointed me to the reason why we trust Him. I love the way that Luke and Psalm 40 run together. "[Herod] tried to see him ... [and] waited patiently for the Lord". A king, the ruler of this little bit of the roman empire TRIED to see Jesus. The Lord of Lords is the King of Kings and even Kings have to wait to see him. This heavenly king however is more interested in the little people and he reaches out to them, and he sends his disciples to reach out to them.
Just like the disciples, he calls us to go and spread his word, to kings and to paupers. Are we going to give our all to Jesus, trust him with our most precious things, and step out in his name and in faith?
For me, there is a significant moment in the life of the people in Numbers. There is a great deal of regulation over what the people are to give to the Lord, the form that their offering is to take. Even the "freewill" offerings have had a fair amount of rules placed on them. And then in vv48-50 the officers of the army of Israel, give an offering of thanks to God. It doesn't have a name, it seems to have come straight from the heart. They were taking stock after the battle, they saw how good the Lord had been and they just wanted to say thank you. Now that is a freewill offering.
And then the Gospel calls for a certain amount of giving. It takes a lot of effort to have faith in someone. It is not just about following them, it is about giving your all. With some of the things that Jesus has done, common sense goes out the window. The woman has been bleeding for years, the little girl is dead, common sense says that there is not going to be much that this man can do. He healed others but some people need to see to believe. And yet these people gave up all of that, they gave their hearts to him and they trusted him. Jairus trusted him with the most precious of things, the life of his daughter.
But the end of the Gospel and start of he psalm pointed me to the reason why we trust Him. I love the way that Luke and Psalm 40 run together. "[Herod] tried to see him ... [and] waited patiently for the Lord". A king, the ruler of this little bit of the roman empire TRIED to see Jesus. The Lord of Lords is the King of Kings and even Kings have to wait to see him. This heavenly king however is more interested in the little people and he reaches out to them, and he sends his disciples to reach out to them.
Just like the disciples, he calls us to go and spread his word, to kings and to paupers. Are we going to give our all to Jesus, trust him with our most precious things, and step out in his name and in faith?
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