Take Jesus at His word

”“Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed.“ John‬ ‭4‬:‭50‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“The man took Jesus at his word”. His son lay dying, he begged Jesus to come to his house with him to heal his son. Out of curiosity, I looked up the distance to see how far the man had walked, because of course there were no cars in Jesus’s day! And this is what I found, “Distance between Cana and Capernaum is 26.51 km. This distance is equal to 16.47 miles, and 14.3 nautical miles”. He walked, essentially 16.5 miles! I can barely walk 3 miles. At first it seems like Jesus rebuked him for asking. His reply just seemed a bit harsh. ““Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”” (John 4:48 NIV). But the man was not deterred. He didn’t seem to take offense, didn’t turn away and leave, he just asked again for Jesus to come with him before his son died. But He (Jesus), didn’t go with him, He simply told the man to “go”, “your son will live”. And the man believed! He took Jesus at His word! Wow! What an example of faith! The Bible doesn’t say he doubted, questioned or asked “are you sure”? He just took Him at His word. What would it look like if I or we did the same? If we took Jesus at His word? Claimed His promises as true for us? Had the courage to pray, “Lord, your word says you will never leave me or forsake me, so I am counting on You to go with me today, and help me face_____(fill in the blank, whatever you may be facing), and then stepping out in faith, without doubting, knowing He is faithful to keep His promises? I can’t help but say, Lord I believe help my unbelief! So, for today, find a promise that means something to you, and take Jesus at His word 🙂

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