Reading your Bible for Today April 19

April 19: Matthew 8:5-13

KJV Key Verse: Matthew 8:13
13 And Jesus said unto the centurion,Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

Devotion:
We are very choosy about who we like to help or who we like to mix with. We like to think we are as good as some people by mixing with them. We like to think we are better than others by not mixing with them. We just have this issue with our built-in attitude wherever we go; and it all basically comes from judging others! We do not have the right to judge others because we are not Christ!

Jesus was not a man who would judge anyone by their looks or their stature. He looked directly into the hearts of others and allowed people around to know what was in their hearts. He made sure His judgement of others was based on fact and not feelings or thought. We tend to make up our minds about all sorts of things just because we have heard something or read something. We then even do go as far as imposing that judgement on others so we can look more knowledgeable or better in some way...

Putting that sort of thing behind you and focusing on God can be difficult, especially when we are surrounded by people who want to do the same thing. We live in a society where social standing counts for too much. Christ, on the other hand, was willing to heal the poor as well as the rich. He was willing to turn the hearts of the poor and the rich. He made no distinction based on earthly measures.

We need to focus on heavenly matters in our lives and make sure that what we are heading for is something which Christ would agree with. What use are we if we are going to continue our earthly ways instead of changing our ways to suit God? How can we ever hope to be an example if we are putting Christ behind us instead of walking with Him proudly by our sides?

Points to Ponder:
Why do you mix with the people that you do?

Have you forgotten Christ was crucified as if a common thief?