Even The Dogs

Focus verses: Matthew 15:21-28

The story of the Canaanite woman with the demon-possessed daughter has always fascinated me. We think of Jesus as having come for everyone, but here He says He came only for "the lost sheep of Israel." In other words, He came only for the Jews.

She, being a Canaanite, was not His primary concern. He tells her so very bluntly, calling the Jews "children" and calling everyone else "dogs." This is not the gracious, soft-spoken healer we have been taught to see. He has healed countless numbers here-to-fore. Why would he not just heal this woman's daughter and be done with it?

I believe He is using her persistence and faith as an example. She doesn't quit. The disciples urged Him to send her away because she keeps on after them. That would indicate that this had gone on for some time. She didn't quit the first time she was ignored, nor the second, nor presumably the fifth or tenth. She would not quit.

As believers, we can learn a lesson from this tenacity. Never, never, never give up.

As for her faith, she has been called a dog. This is not a compliment. But she didn't bristle at the appellation. She simply acknowledged her unworthiness and appealed to His generosity. In other words, she came, not because of her position, but because of His nature.

Sometimes, I think we presume upon God. We think that because we call ourselves Christian, that means we should have preferred seats in the congregation. But as Christians, we should be ushers, not observers. Ushers stand and serve and sit at the corners to be ready when there is a need. They move at a moment's notice and are always on the watch for the need.

As Christians, we do not have preferred seats. We are here not because of who we are, but because of what He did. We should be ready at any given moment to serve anywhere He calls us. That doesn't necessarily mean the ends of the earth. Sometimes in means in our own households.

Father, God,

Keep us ever mindful that we are not Your children because of us, but because of Jesus Christ. Deliver us from the pride that would let us think ourselves better than others. Make us ever ready to serve wherever You would have us serving.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Jezebel

Focus verses: II Kings 9:30-37

When Jezebel had Naboth killed so that Ahab could have Naboth's land at Jezreel, the word of the Lord came to say that the dogs would lick up Ahab's blood on that very land. But it also said that the dogs would devour Jezebel's flesh also on that very spot.

What could Jezebel have done to deserve such an ignominous end?

She fed Ahab's covetousness by telling him that as king, he should have the piece of ground he wanted. Never mind that God Himself had parceled that land to another family.

She took the seal of the king and wrote letters to elders and nobles in Naboth's city. In those letters, she laid out a scheme that used others to conspire against Naboth, to lie about Naboth, to have Naboth stoned to death.

The charge against Naboth was that he had cursed both God and the king. It was a lie. Naboth had not cursed God or the king. He had, in fact, simply honored God's legacy to his family by holding onto the land that had been parceled out as his family heritage from God.

Jezebel took God's name in vain in the most heinous manner, using it to condemn an innocent man.

Today's reading sees the dogs devour her flesh on the very land Ahab coveted. The word of the Lord never fails. Ahab was the most wicked king in Israel and Jezebel was his equal in treachery and wickedness. The Lord excised that particular wickedness by orchestrating the deaths of the couple and cutting off all their heritage in the land.

Father, God,

Help us to be discerning in our words and deeds. Grant us the favor of knowing Your voice among all the others that whisper in our ears. Keep us faithful to Your words, careful to do in Your name only those things which You have decreed.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.