FEARLESS FAST DEVOTIONAL - DAY 12

BREAK OUT

“Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet. He pleaded earnestly with Him, my little daughter is dying. Please come and put Your hands on her so that she will be healed and live” Mark 5:22-23 (NIV)

Today we meet a man called Jairus. He was a leader in the Jewish synagogue. He had position, influence and authority in the community. Then calamity struck! His young daughter, 12 years old, was sick and close to death. As a leader in the synagogue, Jairus had a relationship with the chief priest and other priests and leaders in the synagogue. But when his daughter fell ill, Jairus did not go looking for the priests, he went looking for Jesus. The priests did not like Jesus nor did they believe in Him. But Jairus did not have time to worry about other people’s feelings. His daughter’s life was on the line. Are you one of those who takes decisions only because you want people to be pleased with you? Are you more afraid of what people think about you than what God thinks about you?

In any case, when Jairus saw Jesus, he broke out from the crowd and fell at His feet. A large crowd had gathered around Jesus, but here was the well-known Jewish leader, Jairus, dropping before Jesus publicly. Jairus came to the one Man the priests were afraid of. The Man they had marked out as their public enemy. In this one move, Jairus stripped himself of his religious position and affiliations. The man clearly loved his daughter and loved her enough to lay his reputation and associations on the line. The only thing he was concerned about, was his daughter’s well-being. There on the ground, Jairus made a declaration of faith. He said to Jesus, “my daughter lies at the point of death, come and lay Your hands on her that she may be healed.”

POINTS TO CONSIDER

Jairus broke from tradition

He broke away from the routine of tradition and sought a relationship with the Man who could make a difference. Jairus broke away from the ritual of tradition, in the pursuit of his breakthrough. Are there some traditions of men God is calling you to walk away from at this point? Traditions that make the word of God, as Jesus said, of no effect.

Jairus broke from fear

Jairus was fearless and spoke the language of faith. He did not speak like a defeated man. You must be careful to speak faith and not fear over your life and over the lives of your loved ones. The power of life and death is in the tongue.

Jairus broke from religion

Jairus did not deny the facts. He told Jesus his daughter was ill. Walking in faith does not mean that you deny the issues. You and I are to live by faith, but that does not mean that we do not recognize the reality of the situations that we face. People would often say, “I am not sick” when they clearly are sick, or others say, “the devil is sick”. The faulty assumption is if I say “I am sick”, then I am faithless.

Jairus broke from unbelief

He did not allow the facts to override his faith. Though he acknowledged that his daughter was sick, he brought a declaration of faith over the negative situation. He declared that his daughter would be healed and that she would live. We often speak more of the language of fear than the language of faith. We say things like “I don’t think I am going to make it”, “nothing seems to be working for me”, “life is passing me by”.

CONFESSION

Lord I choose to allow my faith to triumph over fear in my life. I confess that You are my God and that You are greater than any problem I may face. I break away today from needless tradition, from fear, and from unbelief.