This year, Mark’s recollection of Jesus’ final week has been particularly inspiring. In his effort to portray Jesus as the unexpected king, Mark repeatedly emphasizes the substitutionary nature of our Savior’s sacrificial work.
God calls us to take up our cross and follow Him (Mark 8:34-35), but few of us are as eager to do so as we often communicate. In fact, like Peter, we are much quicker to deny our Lord than to deny ourselves.
For many, nothing is more mysterious and elusive than discerning how God wants them to live. The consternation and confusion caused by this dilemma can be exhausting.
Let’s learn from the mistakes of those who admonish us through their pain. You and I do not have to be another spiritual casualty in the kingdom of God if we will heed the warnings of those whose mistakes instruct us.
Though the concept is somewhat foreign to us, it was commonplace in ancient Israel. Fasting appears 75 times in the Bible, with 44 and 31 verses in the Old and New Testaments respectively.