February 11, 2021 CAC Living Water Devotional : Topic – TOO SICK TO SERVE
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Thursday, February 11, 2021 – World Day of the Sick and International Day of Women and Girls in Science
TOO SICK TO SERVE
Read: Matthew 8:14-17
Matthew 8:14-17 And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.
And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.
When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
MEMORISE:
Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them (Matthew 8:14,15)
EXPOSITION
The message today is relevant to both things that are being remembered in the world, today: World Day of the Sick, and International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
Healing is a restoration to normality of defective physical functions; the restoration of health that has been lost to disease, illness or sickness. From the Christian perspective, healing is an ability to perform wholly as God intended a person to do. In other words, anything that cripples you to serve God as He intends it, is a sickness. In the text above, we see Peter’s mother-in-law who was ready to serve the Lord but was prevented from doing so by fever. Hence, she needed to be restored to normalcy. She needed to be touched by the Lord so she could accomplish God’s purpose for her life – service.
The Messianic signs include deliverance from Satan, sin, demons, the world, and hell, or simply ‘a relief for the oppressed’ as proclaimed by Isaiah (lsa. 61:1ff), confirmed by Jesus while reading the scroll in Nazareth (Lk. 4:18ff), and also presented as an evidence by Him while answering John the Baptist’s question and in confirmation of His God-sent Messianic ministry: ‘The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them’ (Mat. 11:5).
There are times we would want to do exceedingly in the service of the Lord but may be too sick to perform well. For Peter’s mother-in-law, it was fever. For Bartimaeus, it was physical blindness. For Saul of Tarsus, it was a spiritual blindness. For Zacchaeus, it was corruption and short stature. For Simon the Zealot, it was bitterness. For the rich young man that came to Jesus, it was avarice. Are you too sick to serve? What is your own sickness? Come to Jesus and obey His Word. You are free!
PRAYER POINTS
1. Give glory to the Lord for giving you the privilege to be His servant.
2. Begin to destroy every power of infirmity that is preventing you from serving God as you ought to, in the name of Jesus.
3. Pray for missionaries who are silently dying of diseases, or ailments in fields everywhere, on most cases without adequate human help to bail them out.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY
Exodus 37:20 – 39:23: Matthew 25:39 – 26:14