A Roman Centurion came to Jesus, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus responded, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered this by saying, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. But only speak a word and my servant will be healed.” You can find this account Matthew chapter 8.
We must be careful about where we live. We give more thought to that in a carnal sense than we do in a spiritual sense, but it shouldn’t be that way. Having a relationship with the Lord isn’t like having a Facebook friend who is helping you find a home to buy. When we say we know Him or that He knows us, it is expected that our hearts would become His home. What would it be like if Jesus lived with you, but He could not always come home to you? Scripture encourages us to be mindful of where we live. We ought to keep our hearts as a place He would gladly call His home. Scripture encourages us in this way in the book of Jude when in verse 21 it says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life”. What does it mean to keep in the Love of God?
There are several amazing things about the incident Jesus had with the centurion that can help us see just what it means to live in the Love of God. First, since a centurion was a key leader in the Roman Army, he was a gentile. But here is what is amazing about that: Jesus can be found wherever faith can be found. The centurion, though he didn’t know or see the Lord the way the Jews did, knew that there was something special and divine about Jesus. The centurion was usually served by others, but he showed himself to be a man who, without knowing Him directly, served the Lord. When you learn to live in faith, you will learn to live in the Love of God. Living in faith simply means that, whether you have much or whether you have little, you live under the knowledge that Someone greater than you is provider of all things. If you want to live in the Love of God, learn to live in faith towards God.
If that is amazing and surprising to you, consider this. The centurion was a gentile who had a natural sense of caring for someone that he didn’t need to care for at all. His servant was certainly not a Roman, yet he loved him as a person which is why he sought Jesus’ help. The centurion had an address in Rome, but he abided in the Love of God because he knew that he was blessed when he lived in Love. We can find it easy to love those like us. We can find it easy to love those who don’t need much from us, but it is amazing that the love of God makes it easy for us to be love to all those who we come into contact with. If you want to live in the Love of God, love God and love people with the love which God loves you.
There it still more amazing stuff here. Clearly, the centurion was highly regarded by the Jewish community, and he was a generous and very successful citizen of Rome. But he was still a gentile. Even with all his status and position, his humility was even greater. The centurion had the sense to know that no amount of pride is greater than a small dose of humility; no amount of status is greater than the small status of a humble person; no amount of authority is greater than the position of being in humble authority to care for others. The centurion showed us how to live in humble submission to the Love of God. If you want to learn to live in the Love of God you must learn to live in humble sufficiency with the things that you have, wanting nothing more save for the needs of those you know and love. The Love of God is powerful, and it is made even more so when it is handled by someone who is humbly powerful and still concerned for the welfare of others.
The Love of God can do what authority cannot do: it can move things with just a word. The Love of God can heal what medicine cannot heal: it can mend broken hearts. The Love of God can restore what a law cannot restore: it can forgive the unforgivable. The Love of God can find what all your searching cannot find: it can reveal your whereabouts. The Love of God can cover what you have never been able to cover: it can put a lid on the most impossible things. The Love of God can bring life to what has died right before you: it can help you live though the loss of the thing most precious to you.
If you want to live in the Love of God, you must learn to do what this centurion did. Go out of your way to live as a lessor being, but live for something and Someone greater than you. You may not be worthy on you own to entertain Jesus in your home. But when you live in the Love of God, you make your heart Christ’s home. And when you do this, you can always invite anyone over because in His home there is a place for us all. Are you living in His Love with your love? Live a Delivered Life. Love you.
Live Delivered 