2/21/26 Devotion: Originated by Charles L. Robinson Jr.
- Charles L Robinson Jr.
- 1 minute ago
- 3 min read
Greetings. My ECP Family (and whoever else finds this message.) I hope that the following storyline is an enjoyable read that arouses curiosity, sparks contemplation, and answers questions within in you that helps prosper you in your personal walks with Christ.
In some settings the answer was a stern "no" (no meaning it's not lawful to heal on the Sabbath) which maintained some people's contentment. Then in other settings, with the same people, their stern "no" was challenged, challenged so effectively that in order to maintain contentment, their stern "no" had to remain silenced. What were they to do? They were sensing satisfaction from both "stern no" and "withholding no" but their answer had to be one answer (yes or no) regarding it being lawful to heal on the Sabbath. The contentment from their "stern no" regarding it not being lawful to heal on the Sabbath excluded the help for their child and ox. The contentment of their "withholding no" regarding it being lawful to heal on the Sabbath included the help for their child and ox (they were newly confronted about their child and ox.) Unbeknown to them, Jesus helps them decipher through their double mindedness by awakening inner abase (abase representing the part of them that agrees with helping their child and ox on the Sabbath) and abound (abound representing the overbearing part of them that withholds verbally admitting to help their child and ox on the Sabbath) that's internally waging war. They experience a major dispositional shift here: Their true one answer really remains in their heart condition of helping their child or ox. They did not answer yes or no, but Jesus had the ability to know their inner thoughts and knew the correct yes or no answer. He answers them by piggybacking their inner undisclosed answer regarding their own child or ox being helped on the Sabbath with another yes or no scenario regarding healing a man with a swelling body on the Sabbath in which both have the same correct answer: Yes, help and heal.
Important tagline: Their contentment in justifying that it was not lawful to heal on the Sabbath lost contextual connection but Jesus put things back in proper context by illustrating the help for their child or ox. The people were reminded by Jesus that "the truth of a matter remains in the appropriate context of that matter".
In conclusion, My ECP family (and whoever else finds this message), I exhort you to hold onto this biblical principle in your walk in life with Christ regarding being conscious of not taking issues of life out of proper context for personal contentment. Why? Because, in genuinely desiring truth in a matter, real truth of a matter remains in the appropriate context of that matter. God bless you and you families!
"One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of the body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way. Then he asked them, if one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you immediately pull it out? And they had nothing to say" Luke 14:1-6