Do you point to your resume of service for the kingdom to persuade God to answer your petition? Do you sometimes think that God is more favorably disposed toward you if you’ve achieved a certain level of obedience? Or if you’ve been “good” (in whatever way you’re defining “good”)? Or perhaps it’s even more subtle: you won’t run to God in repentance and faith after committing a sin until you have established a 24-hour track record of obedience.

Recently I read the story of Jesus healing the centurion’s son (Luke 7:1–10) and was struck by the two times “worthy” appeared. Pay attention to the word as you read the story:

After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Did you notice the contrast between the attitudes of the Jewish leaders and the centurion? The Jewish elders may have believed that the centurion’s simple message to Jesus, “Come and heal my servant” would not persuade Jesus to come. So, they made a case for why the centurion was worthy of Jesus’ attention, based on his work on behalf of the Jews: “he loves our nation, and he is the one who built our synagogue.”

Do you ever do that with God? Point to your resume of service for the kingdom to persuade God to answer your petition? Do you sometimes think that God is more favorably disposed toward you if you’ve achieved a certain level of obedience? Or if you’ve been “good” (in whatever way you’re defining “good”)? Or perhaps it’s even more subtle: you won’t run to God in repentance and faith after committing a sin until you have established a 24-hour track record of obedience. You come when you feel just a bit more worthy to come. I suspect we all have such lurking legalism within us.

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