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Daily Devotions

Luke

Luke 
Day 
Day 3

"A PERFECT UNDERSTANDING"

Text: Luke 1:1-4

“A PERFECT UNDERSTANDING”

When I was much younger, I envied those who knew the Lord Jesus personally. How wonderful it must have been to actually hear the Saviour speak. How glorious it must have been to see Him perform miracle after miracle. How wondrous it must have been to have been one of the Disciples! How faith would have matured because one was in the Personal Presence of the Master. Would it be possible for those who had never seen the Lord Jesus personally to have a mature faith, a “perfect understanding?”

It is intriguing to note Luke declaring that he had finally arrived at a perfect understanding of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! How could that be possible? He was a Gentile Christian. He could never have been selected as one of the Apostles. He never walked with the Lord Jesus as one of His disciples either. How could he speak of having “perfect understanding?”

It wasn’t till years later, that my understanding improved. I did not have to envy those who personally saw the Lord Jesus. I did not need to see the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh to come to a mature faith. It was the Lord Jesus Himself who pronounced a special blessing upon all those who would believe Him even though they did not see Him. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:27).

The Apostle Peter also said something very similar, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving at the end of your faith- the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9). It is possible to have a perfect understanding! It is entirely up to us, to cultivate our understanding till it reaches full maturity.

“EYEWITNESSES AND MINISTERS OF THE WORD”

How did Luke cultivate his faith? Let us remember that Luke was a physician. When a physician comes across a patient with a mysterious malady, what does he do? The good physician will do his utmost to do all the research needed to find a solution that could help his patient. Luke as a Christian could do no less. There were people who needed to know the Lord Jesus and the salvation that He offers. His knowledge of the Lord Jesus would have been superficial and shallow at the outset. However, there was no reason for him to remain in the shallow waters.

Luke’s quest for a mature understanding of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ saw him speaking to “eyewitnesses.” As he talked to different people, perhaps the people who were personally healed by the Lord Jesus Himself, he must have found his faith growing significantly.

He went on to talk to “ministers of the word.” This was a reference to those who were entrusted with the task of teaching and preaching the Word of God. These would include the Apostles themselves. He must have talked to them at great length, to ascertain the truth.

It must have been a difficult and arduous task, for when Luke completed his research, he wrote a Gospel that covered 24 chapters. The effort put in was not in vain. He had gained a “perfect understanding” at the end of his research. He was now able to write and speak confidently about his personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

ENCOURAGEMENT TO TAKE DEFINITE STEPS TO MATURE YOUR FAITH

Other New Testament writers took time to encourage believers to grow their faith as well. Let’s take a look at some of these words of admonishment from a selection of NT writers.

1. “Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect (i.e. “mature”) man, to the measure of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting” (Eph. 4:13-14).

2. “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:12-14).

A LONG RANGE GOAL OF BWSJ

One of the long-range goals of BWSJ has to do with maturing of faith of believers. Thus, these pastoral letters are not written with heart-rending sad stories. Moving stories have their place. However, the maturing of our faith would demand much more than just a collection of personal testimonies put in print.

Let us take up the challenge of maturing our faith seriously. How long have we called ourselves Christians? How mature and strong is our faith after all these years? Let us bestir ourselves and work at developing our faith till we too can say we have come to a “perfect understanding.”

WHAT IS THE LORD SAYING TO YOUR HEART?

1. Are we guilty of drifting away from the Lord?

2. Are we guilty of having become stagnant in our faith?

3. Have we contented ourselves with “a simple faith?”

4. What is the need of the hour, but to have Christians who have a mature understanding of the Christian faith stand up and share their faith effectively?