A Faith That Won't Quit!...Continued from page 3

Ask, Seek, Knock ? Persistence in Faith

But this is where this particular story ends ? we don’t know what the disciples think. Does Jesus remind them of what he taught earlier? In chapter 7 Matthew writes about one of the lessons Jesus taught ? the only other time in this gospel that Jesus mentions dogs. There he said, “Do not give what is Holy to dogs,” and then in the very next paragraph, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Here, from one they would never have expected they saw this kind of faith lived out ? they get a living lesson on asking, seeking, and knocking ? they see Great Faith embodied ? a faith that doesn’t quit with asking, a faith that isn’t ashamed to seek diligently after Jesus, a faith that isn’t afraid to keep knocking even in the face of no response.

Questions for you and me!

Do we have a faith that won’t quit, or do we have a faith that gives up when we don’t see a quick response? The disciples left that place seeing a faith that wouldn’t quit ? a faith they imitated as they spread the Gospel later on in the faith of persecution ? the Tradition of the Church tells us that nearly every single disciple died a martyr’s death for their faith in Jesus Christ. Could it be that the great faith they carried until death was faith learned from this Canaanite woman? May God grant us their faith ? a faith so great that it won’t give up, even in the face of uncertainty ? a faith so great that is seeks Jesus Christ relentlessly ? a faith so great that it believes God’s blessings are too big for one nation ? a faith so great that it never gives up ? may God grant us the faith of a woman with nowhere else to turn except worshiping at the feet of Jesus. a faith so great ? a faith that never quits.

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Rev. Matthew Blake Judkins is pastor of Quinton United Methodist Church in Quinton, OK.

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Notes
1. Wisdom of Solomon 12:10-11