A few days ago my youngest child turned 50. If that doesn’t make you feel old! But feeling old is not what really challenges me – it’s the changes that being older often bring.
Perhaps what I miss most is the freedom to travel as we used to do. We didn’t go on big vacations, but we made frequent trips to California to see our son and his family. With Bob halfway to 87 and me approaching 80, we would now need to spread our one-day travel coming and going to two days each way. There just isn’t enough money to spend on hotels for such a trip, and even if we did have the money, I’m not sure we have the energy!
As I was thinking about all this, I decided to be a bit nostalgic about the next few devotions. I returned to a favorite chapter in Luke’s Gospel. (Well, it is one of my favorite chapters.) I like to sneak back and read it often. I love seeing how Jesus interacts with us as individuals. I love seeing how He meets the needs of our hearts.
The chapter is Luke 7 and it contains four interactions Jesus had. The first was with a centurion, then the widow of Nain. Third was with John the Baptizer’s disciples and the last was the beautiful interaction with the sinful woman in Simon the Pharisee’s house. I love watching Jesus as He meets people in the Gospel. I love how He responded to each one differently, as each one had different needs.
Toward the end of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus explained His purpose, which is the theme of this Gospel. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.” [Luke 19:10 HCSB]
These events captured in Luke 7 show Jesus’ purpose in action. Read Luke 7 today … tomorrow we are going to meet an amazing Centurion and Jesus’ response to him.