June 15, 2024 8:00 pm
In his first home game after the death of his father, National Football League running back Aaron Jones wore something special: a football-shaped pendant necklace that contained some of his dad’s ashes. At some point during the game, the necklace fell off and was lost in the vastness of the turf. One of the team’s athletic trainers searched the field for hours—into the early morning—until he found Aaron’s treasured pendant.
The irreplaceable value of the pendant is what prompted the trainer to persist in the search on Aaron’s behalf. His persistence reminds us of the earnest care God shows for people who are “lost” to Him. Jesus describes God’s pursuit of His children through two parables: one about a lost sheep, another about a lost coin. In both stories, the person who has lost something of great worth to them will “go after the lost sheep until he finds it” or will “light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it” (Luke 15:4, 8).
We’ve each been that lost coin or sheep. God seeks us persistently, sometimes using a person as His agent. Though we’re one of many people, we’re irreplaceable in His eyes; He’s unwilling to abandon the search. When we’re willing to be found by Him and accept His gift of forgiveness from our sin, there’s great “rejoicing in heaven” (v. 7). On this Father’s Day, may we realize how important each of us is to our heavenly Father.
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Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. I'm Kirsten Holmberg, and I titled our reading Hope of Healing. A new cause for hope has emerged for people paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. German researchers have discovered a way to stimulate nerve growth to reconnect the neural pathways between the muscles and the brain.
The regrowth has enabled paralyzed mice to walk again, and testing will continue to determine whether the therapy is safe and effective for humans. What science seeks to achieve on behalf of those who suffer paralysis, Jesus did through miracles. When he visited the pool at Bethesda, a place where many who ailed lingered in hopes of healing. Jesus sought out a man among them who had been an invalid for 38 years. After confirming that the man did indeed wish to be healed, Christ instructed him to stand up and walk. At once the man was cured, he picked up his mat and walked. We are not promised that all our physical ailments will be healed by God. There were others at the pool who weren't healed by Jesus that day. But those who put their trust in him can experience the healing he brings. From despair to hope, bitterness to grace, hatred to love, accusation to a willingness to forgive. No scientific discovery or pool of water can offer us such healing.
It only comes by faith. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from John, chapter 5, verses 1 through 9. Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.
Now there is in Jerusalem near the sheep gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, Do you want to get well? Sir, the invalid replied, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.
While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. Then Jesus said to him, Get up, pick up your mat and walk. At once the man was cured.
He picked up his mat and walked. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for curing our greatest ailment, the plague of sin, and for restoring our spiritual health through Jesus. It's in his name that we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Kirsten Holmberg and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-06-15 20:10:42 / 2024-06-15 20:12:10 / 1
