"But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..." Then He said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." Matthew 9:6
The teachers of the Law constantly questioned Jesus' methods. They found fault with Him because He didn't do things in ways they found acceptable. But the miracle in our text proved to the crowd that Jesus did have the authority to forgive sins and to do things His way. It was the teachers who were wrong, not Jesus.
Someone becomes ill. We know instinctively what God should do, but He doesn't do it. Problems arise, and Jesus fails to remove them. We expect Jesus to do things according to our scheme and schedule. But Jesus is above our plans, and in His wisdom He does things in ways that we cannot begin to comprehend. Those ways are wiser; those ways are better; those ways are far superior to anything we might devise. Christ's plan is such an improvement over ours that we cannot comprehend the mind of Christ. His ways are beyond our finding out.
Jesus is Lord, and He knows what He is doing. We have neither the right nor the wisdom to second-guess His plan for us. Ours is not to question but to trust His Word. Ours is to place ourselves into His everlasting arms and depend on Him to carry us all the way to our eternal home.
PRAYER: Lord, teach me to trust Your guidance for my life; in Jesus' name. Amen.
(Devotions from "The Abundant Life" copyright 1998, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time e-mailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)
Today's Bible Readings: Isaiah 9-10 Ephesians 1
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