My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not answer her, not even a word. So his
disciples approached him and said, “Send her away! See how she is shouting after us.”

Then Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”

But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus, and said, “Sir, help me!” Jesus answered,
“It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to puppies.” The woman replied,
“That is true, sir, but even puppies eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” Then
Jesus said, “Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish.” And her daughter was
healed at that moment.

Reflect

I am a procrastinator. I can give you (and myself) many explanations about why I shouldn’t
start a specific task right now and why it makes sense to put it off until tomorrow – or later.
I’ve had to make a rule for myself that any time I give three reasons for delaying a task, I have
to do that task immediately. If I have a truly good reason for the delay, I only need that one
reason. If I start multiplying reasons, I know that I am just making excuses.

That seems to be the approach taken by the Israelite men sent by Moses to scout the
Promised Land. All of them, except Joshua and Caleb, came back with excuse after
excuse for why the Israelites should not follow God’s command to enter the Promised Land,
though even they admitted that the land was beautiful and able to sustain the people.
They let their fear of the upcoming struggle overwhelm their faith in the God who had
brought them up from slavery in Egypt. What excuses do I make instead of following Jesus?

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