December 29, 2003 Monday
Worshiping by His Faith (Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30)
What are your views of worship? Are you more apt to identify a life of genuine
worship through someone receiving God's best or through someone who has given
Him their utmost regardless of the obstacles and outcome? An unnamed woman in
this account approached Jesus and "fell at his feet" as if she was a starving,
wild dog craving just a small portion of the crumbs that sat upon on the
Master's table. And in ultimate response our Lord said, "O woman, great is thy
faith." Only a few people in the Scriptures receive such praise from the Lord
for their exhibited faith, but those who truly walk by His faith are those who
walk without any regard for the consequences of their faithfulness to Him,
fully recognizing that "no good thing will he withhold from them that walk
uprightly." (Psalm 84:11) In her life, this woman was accused by the very
disciples who were closest to the Lord as being a burden. Though the Lord
"entered into a house, and would have no man known it...he could not be hid.
For a certain woman...heard of him, and came and fell at his feet...and she
besought him." Then, in one of His most spectacular challenges of a person's
faith, Jesus "answered her not a word," and in one of the most beautiful
expressions of worshiping by His faith "then came she and worshipped Him,
saying, Lord help me." Worshiping by His faith implies that your adequacy in
life can be found nowhere apart from Jesus Christ alone. When such a life is
spread out before God there will be nothing found that can possibly hold that
person back from allowing God's will to become entirely consummated in them,
except for that very person. Beware of the obstacle of "self" fighting against
God's will in your life. When you see yourself standing in His path learn to
die. We often become totally discontented with the crumbs that fall from the
Lord's table onto our plates and thereby we allow are selfish motives to
disrupt His ways, yet Jesus said in Luke 17:10, "when ye shall have done all
those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we
have done that which was our duty to do." Are you falling at His feet daily,
praying for just the crumbs that fall from His table? When your heart is
finally broken to such a point of selflessness you will see what it means to
worship Him by His faith...and His words to you will be, "great is thy faith."