From today’s reading...
When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘In truth I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this.’” Matthew 8:10
This was a confusing and maybe even insulting statement by Jesus.
As a Jew many of His earliest followers were Jews who likely had high hopes and expectations that since they were of the same faith as Jesus, they held a special place in His heart since they were “God’s chosen people.”
Imagine how astonished some of them were at hearing that a Roman pagan gentile soldier had the greatest of faiths.
That would be like an Alabama fan winning the gumbo contest in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. THAT CAN NOT HAPPEN!!!
But it did. (The Roman having the greatest faith, not the gumbo thing. The latter can truly NEVER happen…but I digress.)
The lesson here is to stop judging and concerning yourself with others.
You don’t know their hearts, their minds, their circumstances, their struggles, and even if they have a greater faith than yours, that does not mean that you do not have adequate faith.
So shift your focus from others, including yourself, and focus on Jesus, which is the only way to...
Stay the course.
Keep the faith.
Endure.
Market like you mean it. Now go sell something.