A SERIES OF DEVOTIONS BASED ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW 

FAITH      

Matthew 9:18 “While He was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put Your hand on her, and she will live.”  

The synagogue leader had faith. His words to Jesus are a statement of that faith, “ . . .come and put Your hand on her and she will live.” Note well there were no “if’s,” “I hope she will live,” or any doubts voiced by this grieving father. “If You put Your hand on her . . . she will live!” 

Jesus taught, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” (Luke 17:6) A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds in existence. Jesus’ point is that all that is needed is faith. Faith is not a matter of quantity. It is about having it. 

St. Paul wrote, “We live by faith and not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) In the very next verse St. Paul, in thinking about the eternal life Jesus promised him wrote, “I am confident. . .” What a strong statement of faith.   

God has given you this very same faith.  

Prayer/Hymn:  

Oh, for a faith that will not shrink,  Though pressed by every foe,  That will not tremble on the brink  Of any earthly woe!  That will not murmur nor complain  Beneath the chast’ning rod,  But, in the hour of grief or pain,  Will lean upon its God.  A faith that shines more bright and clear  When tempests rage without;  That when in danger knows no fear,  In darkness feels no doubt.  Lord, give me such a faith as this,  And then, whate’er may come,  I’ll taste, e’en here, the hallowed bliss  Of an eternal home.  (William H. Brathurst, 1831. Public Domain)