Christian Devotional – December 25, 2017

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

What makes us worthy? It may seem an odd question to ask today, but as we are about to open presents and enjoy the things that others have given to us, what makes us worthy to receive any of these things? Let’s look at Luke 7:1-10, paying particular attention to these verses:

When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;
Luke 7:4‭-‬6 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/luk.7.4-6.NASB

So first, we have the servants and friends of this man who come to him and claim that the man is indeed worthy of having Jesus come and perform a miracle. Then we have the man himself sending a specific message saying, wait, I’m not worthy. How do we determine who is worthy?

The man knew and understood who Jesus was and he knew the authority that Jesus had, for he references it in the next verse. The man knew that there is nothing that he could have done to be deserving of this miracle that he was asking Jesus for. He was simply asking for Jesus to be merciful and to grant his request anyway.

Christmas is about a time when God provided a way for us to be saved even when we didn’t deserve it. Because of our sin, we are not worthy of Him sending His Son, but He did it anyway. He desires us more than we could possibly understand and He knows that we will never deserve that love, so He gives it to us freely if we will only receive it. That is the message of Christmas. We are not worthy and when we acknowledge that and accept that He is worthy, we truly understand what it means to receive all that God has for us.