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When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! (Matthew 8:10, NLT)
One day, a Roman military officer came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his servant.
The Roman said, “Lord, I’m not worthy enough to have you come to my house, and besides, it’s not necessary. When I say something to my soldiers, they do it. So, please, Jesus, just command my servant to be healed.
Jesus said to the officer, “You can return home; it has been done according to your faith.”
But Jesus then said to those following Him, “I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!”
I’m encouraged by this story in Matthew 8 because it indicates that great things can happen to anyone who has faith.
I qualify as an “anyone.” How about you? As Jesus sits beside the Father in heaven in 2024, I want Him to say about me, “I haven’t seen faith like Pastor Grant’s by anyone else in Springfield.”
And to be honest — since many of the Interruption’s readers are from Springfield — I won’t be upset if you win this year’s faith prize.
No matter where we live — let’s build faith in 2024. How?
First: Build mustard seed faith.
For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you (Matthew 17:20, ESV).
Faith is trusting God, not self. Start with something small like tithing your income or 15 minutes of regular prayer in the morning. Mustard seed faith starts small and builds.
Second: Build actions upon faith.
Paul writes in Romans 1:17 that we are to live from “faith to faith.”
What are you doing now that is faith? Build upon it! What’s common, mundane, and dull probably isn’t faith. Agreed, religious routines seem safe, but they aren’t, as they typically lull us into complacency!
Paul also writes that Jews stumbled over Jesus because they followed the Law out of tradition and not faith.
Again, examine your life for faith. Nothing is impossible with Jesus.
Third: Walk by faith, not sight.
This is my favorite verse on faith …
For we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7, ESV).
Faith isn’t blind. It’s enlightening and invigorating but scary, too. God asks us to obey with actions that are beyond our ability and experience. Let’s not succumb to fear but take that step of faith.
What will be our first faith step in 2024?
We can learn more about faith by reading Hebrews chapter 11. Verses one and two are instructive …
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation (NLT).
Let’s build a good reputation for faith this year.