Daily Devotional for Wednesday, January 21

John’s Request to Jesus

“When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?” Luke 7:20.

Historian Eric Metaxas reminds us that when there is sickness and death, Christians are found running toward, not away from the danger. “Between 250 and 270 A.D. a terrible plague, believed to be measles or smallpox, devastated the Roman Empire.  At the height of what came to be known as the Plague of Cyprian, after the bishop St. Cyprian who chronicled what was happening, five thousand people died every day in Rome alone.”

The plague coincided with the first empire-wide persecution of Christians under the emperor Decius. Not surprisingly, Decius and other enemies of the Church blamed Christians for the plague. That claim was undermined by two inconvenient facts: Christians died from the plague like everybody else and, unlike everybody else, they cared for the victims of the plague, including their pagan neighbors.

Entering the city of Nain, Jesus came upon a scene of grief and sorrow. A funeral procession with a grieving mother and widow spoke to the heart of our Lord, and He would not look the other way. Jesus turned a funeral into a celebration. Such was a pattern in His ministry.

Why are believers running in when everyone else is running away? Perhaps their selflessness is a fruit of the Spirit that lives in each of them. The first on a list of nine fruit produced by the Holy Spirit is love. Love produces heart-felt compassion that will not permit the Christian to encounter suffering and look the other way. When disaster strikes, you can be sure, while the rest of the world is looking the other way, Christians are on the scene.

FINAL THOUGHT

Have you ever wondered why your heart is touched by the suffering of others? You have inherited the Savior’s tender heart.

John Nations