Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Father, give me the courage to seek you in my crises and trust Jesus to act in my world to provide the opportunity for change. Give me the discipline and the will to bring my family to you before the crisis. Make my house a house in which your name is praised and your love is shared. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

When Jesus arrived in Galilee, the people there welcomed him. These people had seen all the things Jesus did at the {Passover } festival in Jerusalem. These people had been at the festival too. Jesus went to visit Cana in Galilee again. Cana is where Jesus had changed the water into wine. One of the king's important officials lived in the city of Capernaum. This man's son was sick. The man heard that Jesus had come from Judea and was now in Galilee. So the man went to Jesus {in Cana}. He begged Jesus to come to Capernaum and heal his son. His son was almost dead. Jesus said to him, "You people must see miracles and wonderful works before you will believe in me." The king's official said, "Sir, come {to my house} before my little son dies." Jesus answered, "Go. Your son will live." The man believed what Jesus told him and went home. On the way home the man's servants came and met him. They told him, "Your son is well." The man asked, "What time did my son begin to get well?" The servants answered, "It was about one o'clock yesterday when the fever left him." The father knew that one o'clock was the same time that Jesus had said, "Your son will live." So the man and all the people in his home believed in Jesus. That was the second miracle that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.

Related Scripture Readings

Jesus went to the city of Capernaum. When Jesus entered the city, an army officer came to him and begged for help. The officer said, "Lord, my servant is very sick at home in bed. He can't move his body and has much pain." Jesus said to the officer, "I will go and heal him." The officer answered, "Lord, I am not good enough for you to come into my house. All you need to do is command that my servant be healed, and he will be healed. I myself am a man under the authority (power) of other men. And I have soldiers under my authority. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes. I tell another soldier, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and my servant obeys me. {I know that you also have power like this.}" When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Jesus said to those people that were with him, "I tell you the truth. This man has more faith than any person I have found, even in Israel.

People brought their small children to Jesus, so that Jesus could touch them. But the followers told the people to stop bringing their children to Jesus. Jesus saw what happened. He did not like his followers telling the children not to come. Jesus said to them, "Let the little children come to me. Don't stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to people that are like these little children. I tell you the truth. You must accept the kingdom of God like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it." Then Jesus held the children in his arms. Jesus put his hands on them and blessed them.

Then Joshua said to the people, "Now you have heard the Lord's words. So you must respect the Lord and truly serve him. Throw away the false gods that your ancestors worshiped. That was something that happened a long time ago on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Now you must serve only the Lord. "But maybe you don't want to serve the Lord. You must choose for yourselves today. Today you must decide who you will serve. Will you serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River? Or will you serve the gods of the Amorite people that lived in this land? You must choose for yourselves. But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord!"