Once more I sit with You, Father. You surely know me much better than I know myself. And I know You much better than last year or the year before that but You are so much deeper and wider than my finite mind can begin to comprehend. But the more I know, the more like You I become. Help me, Father, to draw closer still. Amen.

Mark 9:30-37 (<<click to read the passage)

From my perspective, I feel that many people – believers and non-believers alike – don’t read the Bible much because they feel that it’s too hard to understand. I will admit that there are some parts with which even the greatest of scholars grapple. But a good part of God’s Word involves people just like you and me. They are far from perfect. They struggle. They make poor decisions. They say and think and do things that are truly out of line with what God would have them (us!) say, think and do.

Here’s a prime example – at the beginning of this passage Jesus once again predicts His pending persecution and death. As before, the disciples weren’t getting it but what they were doing was “arguing” amongst themselves “about which of them was the greatest.” Really? They had spent a great deal of time with God’s Son, they had seen miracle after miracle and they were “arguing about which of them was the greatest”?

Humanity at its finest, right? And as in all of these situations which we read in the Holy Scriptures; our initial reaction is to be shocked that whatever character it is would respond that way! Then when we stop and think about it we realize – ashamedly so – would I have done any different?

Get into the Word of God. Immerse yourself in its pages. Read the folly of others and learn from it. In doing so maybe we can avoid the same pitfalls. And if all else fails, we may at least come to the realization that when we fall flat on our faces that we are not alone – others have trod the same path – and that God is not there to bash us but graciously extends His hand to once more lift us up and sets us on the path of righteousness once again.

May 20th, 2019, Mon, 9:58 am