by Pastor Larry Thompson at First Baptist Church of Fort Lauderdale
As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.” Matthew 9:18 (NLT)
Have you ever noticed that it often takes a crisis for us to realize that God is not looking for a man’s religion, He seeks a personal relationship.
The man who cried for help was a religious ruler and a father. Luke reminds us that the ruler's name was Jairus. He was responsible for the administration of the synagogue at Capernaum. The synagogue ruler was an elected position among the religious leaders. He was highly respected, both capable and popular, a person of great power. He was one of the most important men in a community. HE WAS A VERY RELIGIOUS MAN but at the time of crisis his religion was not enough…HE SOUGHT A RELATIONSHIP.
Throughout my years as pastor, I have noticed that it is much easier to see a person who is not already religious to accept the relationship with Jesus Christ. A person who only has religion and not a relationship with the Messiah must come face to face that the very thing he has trusted all his life suddenly cannot be trusted in time of desperation. This religious man would pay the price for abandoning his religion to seek this personal relationship with Jesus. However, when it is your daughter’s life you are desperate and this man knows his religion has failed him…is there something more?
His hopelessness led him to Christ and his attitude revealed that his heart had been changed from religion to relationship. “He knelt before Him…” Jairus previously had only submitted to the laws of religion and now he found himself in humble submission to the Savior. Before we ask Him to touch those we love, we must ask Him to touch us, to change us.
This man was a religious man…a man driven to Jesus by a tragedy. God uses tragedy to drive many of us to Christ. I find it interesting that most religious people will not surrender their religion for a personal relationship until they have come to the place in their lives when they realize their religion has failed…only then will they seek the pricelessness of the personal relationship with the Messiah.
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