Blessed God, bring life and the fullness thereof, to this dear reader today and all days; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Here is today's text: John 20: 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin ), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Jim Moore, now a retired UM pastor from Houston, wrote a book called, "Jesus Was Here and I Was Out To Lunch," and it's about this passage, along with a collection of other of his sermons. But the message is in the title, how many times have we been "out to lunch" and miss the Lord and the blessings of the Lord? As the title suggests, many have been the times I have been out to lunch and I have missed the call or worse, the visit of some dear person I wanted to see. Other times I have been so busy that I neglected to see the presence of the Lord right next to me. Such was Thomas' case. Out to lunch, and Jesus shows up with His message of peace. And it was one week later that he had the opportunity, he would say, "Finally!" to see the Lord. Look at the passage again, Jesus again somehow appears in the Upper Room and he shares the same message (Do you think He means it?): "Peace be with you." And turning to Thomas, Jesus addresses the very doubts and wants of his doubt, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." I bet Thomas felt bad; I would have! Yet, it's happened to me before; I've had some doubt or uneasiness about something and before I knew it, there was the evidence, as if Jesus were saying, "What were you saying about this not being possible or too difficult?" Thomas does what we need to do all the time, declare Jesus as our Lord and our God.
Think about it: Doubting is not a sin. Seeing the answer to your doubt and not believing, is.
PRAYER: Jesus, You are my Lord and God, and in You I put all my hope and trust. I ask you forgive me for those times that I have thought I knew more or thought You were not able to bless me. I repent of that and ask that You continue to amaze me in ways that I can't explain. Let me amaze You in what I will do for You today. In Your name I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
