“Lord,” the centurion replied, “I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But only say the word, and my servant will be cured. For I too am a man under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Matthew 8:8-9 HCSB
God has been very good to me and allowed me to work in a variety of positions in my career. I have worked as a youth pastor, as a youth ministry consultant for the Missouri Baptist Convention, as an editor at Lifeway Christian Resources, and as an Education and Administration Pastor. In some positions I have supervised other employees and had a great level of responsibility and authority while in other positions there was no need for me to have much control.
The centurion understood that Jesus was a man of authority and had control over many areas. He may have seen Jesus heal people or perhaps he had heard about some of the miracles Jesus had done. He understood the power of Jesus and realized that Jesus did not have to be present to heal his servant. All He had to do was to speak the command and his servant would be well.
Challenge: Do you really understand the awesome power of Jesus? Do you realize that none of us are worthy of being called a child of God? None of us deserve any attention or consideration from Jesus, but because of His love for us He was willing to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus has all power over everything and we can trust Him to take care of any situation we may face. Praise Him for who He is and for His great power and authority.