Devotional: Word Authority

‘“For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it”’ (Luke 7:8, NASB). During the days of slavery in America the slave owners had overseers to make sure that the slaves were doing their work. These overseers used whips to beat the slave. They forced the slaves into submission with their cruelty and abuse. In contrast my daddy never beat me to get me to do my work. His words had authority and I obeyed him. Why? It was because my dad taught me by his own examples to respect authority. He too had someone who had authority over him. Respecting authority is a matter of faith. We respect authority when we know that the one who has authority over us has our best interest in their heart. They use their authority to help us instead of using it for their selfish gains. The centurion respected Jesus’ authority. He had faith in Jesus’ ability to heal his servant. He had faith that even though he was a Roman and Jesus was a Jew Jesus would heal his slave. Prayer: Lord Jesus we know that you have authority over all things. Teach us to use our authority to speak words of comfort and healing to those that we see has needs. Amen.