Who Says I am Worthy?

Scripture: “He is worthy to have you do this for him”…”Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” Luke 7:4,6

Observation: The centurion whose servant was dying sent word for Christ to come and heal him. The messengers, probably on their own, supply reasons why Jesus ought to come. The centurion is worthy. He is a good patriot. He helped God’s people. By their reasoning, this was a player whose value was high. Jesus ought to hop to it and get over there quick. Yet when Jesus arrives to the house and prepares to go in, the centurion tells Jesus to just speak the word of healing from outside, for he is not worthy to have Jesus enter his house.
Why the difference between the messengers’ estimation of worth and the centurion’s? They are talking about the same man, right? Yet the messengers thought worth was based on accomplishment, or agreement with the right groups. The centurion may not fully get this, but he at least knows that worth is somehow determined by Jesus. In humility and faith, he demonstrates his belief in the worth of Christ. Christ responds by marveling at this man and bragging that he has not found faith like his in all of Israel. Jesus gave this man true worth by the words he spoke.

Application: Yesterday I spoke with a young woman whose worth had been shattered by a father. This man continued to tell his daughter that she was not worthy. She was worthless. As powerful as a father’s words can be, I still urged her to realize his words were from Satan, and for her to look to her Heavenly Father for words of worth. We are not worthy because messengers, Jewish officials, or even broken down fathers say we are. Our with comes from the lips of Jesus. Today, I choose to live in the words Jesus has spoken about me, not the words I tell myself.

Prayer: God, let me believe in you like this centurion. May I speak your words back to me and not base my worth on accomplishment, or agreement with the right groups, or even the words of well-wishers.