Bethlehem Lutheran Church

The verse for today, 7/7, is Micah 7:7
"But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD. I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me."

Micah 7 is perhaps the most underappreciated chapter in the Bible. It’s easy to overlook due to its placement in the section of the Old Testament with short books with hard to pronounce names. This hidden gold mine, though, is a beautiful and powerful expression of a repentant sinner's hope in a merciful God.

In today's verse, Micah has just finished describing the horrible condition of the world where nobody can be trusted. Yet though every other source of comfort and help may fail, we can turn to God with confidence. The words "watch" and "wait" highlight that God's help is not yet apparent, and the world doubts He even exists, but that need not shake our hope. God is faithful, His promises are sure, and He will not fail us. You can almost hear the defiance in Micah's voice as he protests against all those who doubt God’s presence or His love. "My God WILL hear me." This great battle cry of faith is a wonderful word to have in our hearts as we too watch and wait for God's redemption.

The verse for today, 7/6, is Luke 7:6
"He [Jesus] was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: 'Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.'"

The centurion's words are all the more powerful in the context of Luke, where the Jewish elders had just come to Jesus asking Him to heal the centurion's servant because "this man deserves to have you do this." The centurion himself would claim no such worthiness because He knew who Jesus was so much better than the Jews did that Jesus Himself was even amazed.

The centurion knew that just as he had authority as an officer in the Roman military, Jesus had the authority as the Son of God to simply speak a word wherever He was and the servant would be healed. The centurion's humility in himself and confidence in Jesus is a great example for us today. As we pray for ourselves and for others in our lives, we should remember that we don’t deserve what we ask for any more than the centurion did, but God is able to give us vastly more than we ask because of His power and love.