Pastor John,
The other day I was reading about Cornelius in Acts, when Peter went to Cornelius, and his household was filled with the holy Ghost. The next morning I woke up still thinking about that. I was reading about the Centurions, the Roman soldiers, and was thinking about what kind of men they must have been. From what I understand, they had no regard for God or the Law of Moses. None of this was a part of their life; they thought they had no need for such stories and no need for the one true God. Then I thought about the centurion that asked Jesus to heal his servant and how Jesus said he had not seen faith like that in all Israel. These thoughts kept rolling in my head and heart about who exactly these people were.
When I got in my car to go to work yesterday, one of Darren’s songs was playing and a line was, “You don’t know who you are until you know who you are not” (not sure if exact words), but then Jesus let me see the story of Cornelius and the other centurion differently. My heart almost burst with thankfulness. The mercy God had on us Gentiles was almost too big for this heart to take in.
As I was driving I kept thanking Jesus, and I heard this: “Until you understand who you are, you cannot understand what I have done for you.” It was a very humbling experience.
Michelle