Come Follow Me Day 34

Day 34 “Dogs”

Devotional: 

We’ve heard of dad jokes. I call these dad dog jokes. Why did the cowboy buy a dachshund? Because someone told him to get a long little doggy. What kind of dog can use the phone? A Dial-Matian. Speaking of Dalmatians, what did the hungry Dalmatian say after his meal? That hit the spots.

In today’s passage, Jesus talked about dogs. Actually, it wasn’t really about dogs, it was about the humble faith of a Gentile woman. This woman had none of the religious, moral or cultural credentials necessary to approach a Jewish rabbi like Jesus. She was a Phoenician, a Gentile pagan with a daughter who had an unclean spirit in her.

It appears as if Jesus was comparing this woman to a dog. It almost comes across racist. But Jesus was not teasing the woman about her ethnicity, He was testing her about the authenticity of her faith. We know from other Scriptures that Jesus loves all people no matter the color of their skin, gender, economic situation, or anything else. 

Jesus came to the Jews first and then to Gentiles. Jesus was still early in His ministry and so He was primarily ministering to the Jews at this time. Jesus knew what He was doing and how this would play out. He was going to do a work but He wanted to test the Gentile woman first. And so He essentially says that He’s there for the Jews at that time. And her response is basically, “Yeah, but I’ll take even the crumbs from You!” In other words, she believed that just a little bit of Jesus could heal her daughter.

A.W. Tozer once said that “God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity that we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.” This was definitely not the issue with this woman. She had a desperate faith. And that’s not a bad thing. She was desperate for Jesus to give even just a little bit of power to her daughter. Jesus honored her for her desperate faith.

How about us? Do we have a desperate faith? Or do we live safely within our own strength? What is something that requires the power of God to show up in your life? Will you have a faith like this mother, who believed Jesus could do anything? The “crumbs” of Jesus can produce more than anything we could ever accomplish in our own strength and power.

Prayer:

Pray for a way you need God to show up in a big way. Think about the same thing for someone in your life. Take time praying for their situation.