Mark
(**denotes very visual devotion)
Mark 2:9 - Healing
Mark 2:27 - The Sabbath (Holy Day Lesson - The Sabbath)
**Mark 4:24 - Pay Attention to What You Hear
Mark 4:40 - When You're Afraid
Mark 7:8 - Our Rules or God's?
**Mark 9:24 - Floating Paperclips - Trusting God
Mark 13:36 - While You Were Sleeping
Mark 13:26 - Praise God Anyway
**Mark 16:15 - Proclaim the Gospel
Healing
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”? Mark 2:9
How great is our God? When you think of the amazing things that He can do, what comes to mind? What kind of power does He have?
One day when Jesus was at home in Capernaum, he was teaching. There were so many people listening to him that the house was crowded full. Four men wanted to bring a paralytic to Jesus to heal, but they couldn't get close to Him because of the number of people gathered around Jesus. So they hoisted the paralytic up onto the roof. They dug through the roof and lowered the paralytic on his mat right in front of Jesus.
Now, Mark is known for his brevity. He doesn’t give us lots of details. But can you imagine what this would have been like? Perhaps the roof was a thatch roof with branches, straw, reed, or palm leaves. It could possibly been a roof with branches covered with sod. It could have had rough shingles. Either way, it would have been full of leaves, dirt, insects, perhaps a mouse or two. These four men are digging through this roof to make an opening large enough to lower the paralytic through on his mat. Can you imagine the debris (leaves, dirt, insects) falling on the people in the home? I can imagine they weren’t feeling too charitable towards these guys. And I imagine the owner wasn’t either!
But Jesus’ reaction is so different. He doesn’t rebuke them for disturbing his teaching. He doesn’t chide them for messing up the house. He doesn’t seem upset at them at all. In fact, He sees their faith. What faith? They have to have really believed that Jesus could heal their friend. If you only think Jesus can do it, you don’t go to all the work to hoist a friend up on a roof, dig through the roof, and lower him in front of Jesus. If you think there’s a good possibility that maybe Jesus can do something, you might wait for Jesus to come out of the house; He’s got to come out some time!! But, these men truly believed that Jesus could heal him. And they cared enough about their friend to want it to happen now. Jesus saw their faith . . . so He healed their friend. Right? Well, not immediately.
Jesus told the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Can you imagine the reaction of the four friends? They might have been thinking, “Wait a minute! That’s not what we came for. We wanted him to walk.” The reaction of the scribes was very negative! They thought in their hearts that Jesus was blaspheming because only God can forgive sins. If Jesus is forgiving this man’s sins, then Jesus is claiming to be God. The scribes were not happy with Jesus’ statement. And Jesus knew it. So He said to the paralytic: Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”? Mark 2:9
Think about this for a minute. Which is easier to say: your sins are forgiven or take up your bed and walk? We may be thinking that it’s a whole lot easier to forgive someone of their sins. You just say, “O.K. I forgive you” and you’re done. But you actually have to change something, to heal something, to fix something in order for the paralytic to walk again. But Jesus simply said, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’?”
It causes us to stop and think, doesn’t it? What is involved in forgiving sins? It’s more than just saying the words, isn’t it? Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. That’s a lot more than just saying words. The forgiveness of sins requires a blood sacrifice, specifically, Jesus’ blood sacrifice on our behalf. Yet, Isaiah 53:5 says that by Jesus stripes, the suffering He endured as He was being crucified, we are healed. Our physical healing and our spiritual healing is possible because of our Messiah’s death and resurrection.
Jesus also made it quite plain, to anyone who heard Him that day, that He had the authority to forgive sin. He was, in fact, telling them all that He was, and is, God - God, the Son and the Son of God.
The paralytic was healed that day. Jesus told him to pick up his bed and go home. The crowd was amazed, saying that they’d never seen anything like it. They were amazed the man was walking. Did they miss the significance of what Jesus had said? Did they not realize that he’d forgiven the man’s sins - that he was clean before God? Maybe not - because, after all, we can’t really see anything when a person’s sins are forgiven.
At any rate, I’m so very glad those four men had the faith to dig through the roof. I’m glad this event is recorded for us to read and to consider. Think about it: what if Jesus had healed the man so he could walk and yet he carried his sin debt. He would have died, eventually. But if Jesus had forgiven his sins and left him a paralytic, he would have been assured of eternal life in God’s kingdom. Which do you think is more important to God? It’s a poignant reminder to us that we don’t see things the way God does.
Something to think about, isn’t it?
The Sabbath
"And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27
I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy when I was little. One of the chapters dealt with sabbath observance. The children were required to sit on a bench, study the Bible, sit still all day. They couldn’t play; they couldn’t talk. They were just supposed to sit quietly, reverently until the sun set. But they’d been given a new sled just before sabbath began the night before. So the boys excised themselves to go to the outhouse, pulled the sled to the top of the hill, and accidentally slid down the hill backwards past the window of the house. They quickly put the sled away and slid back into their place on the bench. When the Sabbath was over, their father took the boys to the shed and whipped them. They had broken the Sabbath commandment and had to be punished.
This, to me, is exactly what Christ was speaking of: they’d made the children conduct themselves as if they were made for the Sabbath. The day was no longer, if it indeed ever had been, a day to eagerly anticipate and enjoy. It was a day to dread.
God doesn’t want us to view the precious and holy Sabbath as a day to be dreaded, to be gotten through, to be endured. It is a day of rest, a memorial of Creation, and a day which reminds us of who gives us eternal rest. It points to our Redeemer. So while there is definitely a prohibition against working on the Sabbath and doing your own pleasure with no thought for God, the Sabbath day itself is to be pleasurable for each of God’s people!
I wouldn’t cook an elaborate meal on the Sabbath, but I might make something special. I wouldn’t give the kids a haircut on the Sabbath, but I will take extra time braiding my daughter’s hair before church. I wouldn’t pick a gallon of strawberries before breakfast, but I might pick a handful to eat with breakfast.
The Sabbath is to be a delight to each of us. If we, God’s people, don’t view the Sabbath as something special, something to be anticipated, something to look forward to all week long, how in the world are we going to convince the people around us that we have something they need? Why would they want to be part of a joyless religion, a duty-filled drudgery? A burden-filled Sabbath is an offense to our God on so many levels and is a travesty for His people.
Do you enjoy the Sabbath? Do you look forward to it each week? Do you call it a delight? Is the Sabbath for you, or do you think you were made for the Sabbath?
**Pay Attention to What You Hear
Pay attention to what you hear: . . . Mark 4:24
Materials: ear muffs, ear plugs, whistles, bells, alarms, good/bad books
Why should you pay attention to what you hear?
* It could be harmful.
Protect yourself from loud noises that can damage your ear drum. Use ear protection whenever you’re going to encounter loud noises. The alarm clock and Mom’s voice do NOT fall into this category.
Protect yourself from ungodly sounds, noises, messages which can
damage you emotionally and spiritually. Carefully consider what you watch on tv, what music you listen to, what friends you choose to be around, people who habitually swear and take God’s name in vain . . .
Protect yourself from liars and mischief-makers by carefully considering and verifying what someone tells you. You can’t always believe what other people say. If you believe a false report, you can ruin a friendship. You can find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time. You could find yourself out of God’s will.
It could be very important to your life and prosperity.
Listen to the warnings that people give you (but check them out thoroughly). If you don’t believe the road is out ahead, you can find yourself in the crick without a paddle.
Listen to fire alarms, alarm clocks, and oven timers. Those sounds are there for your good.
*Whether you hear to avoid something bad or to get a blessing, it’s not enough to just hear! The wise person acts on what he has heard! Think about it! If the alarm goes off, it’s a sound that means you need to do something - like get out of bed. If you hear a tornado siren going off, you should take cover. If you hear God’s word telling you to act in a certain way, you must adjust your actions accordingly.
To recap: Choose carefully what you listen to - eschew the harmful and choose the good. Once you’ve determined which it is, do something about it. Don’t be foolish; pay attention to what you hear.
When You’re Afraid
He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Mark 4:40
Do you know that some people ride rollercoasters on purpose so they can be scared? They like the feeling of being so terrified that they might die that they scream at the top of their lungs! And, if they’ve ridden the roller coaster so many times that the scariness is wearing off, they raise their hands into the air. It’s like telling their brains that they aren’t holding onto anything. They could, just possibly, die. But, 99.9999% of the time, the roller coaster works like it’s supposed to, and no one dies.
Some people drive their cars really fast, or bungee jump off cliffs, or sky dive, or go rock climbing for the same reason. It’s almost as if they are sitting next to themselves and they want to scare their brains - the brains which know that what they’re doing is very dangerous and they could actually die. But, for one reason or another, they think that nothing will happen to them.
Sometimes when there’s a really scary thing, we play games with our brains. We make up rules to convince ourselves that there’s really no danger, even though our brains know there really is. When I was 12 years old, I decided I didn’t want to share a room with my sister anymore. So one day, when I got home from school, I moved all of my stuff to the basement. When Mom got home, I had a bed made up downstairs and all my clothes were moved. Mom agreed I could sleep downstairs, but I don’t think she thought I’d last too long. Since we lived in Wyoming, there weren’t many spiders (at least compared to Missouri), but there were still spiders. I knew we had spiders because we had spider webs. But I really wanted to sleep downstairs, so first I tried sleeping with the covers over my head. I couldn’t breathe. So eventually I made up a rule for the spiders. As long as my body was covered up, they weren’t allowed to crawl on my face. I don’t know how I managed to convince my brain that the spiders could actually hear those rules, understand those rules, and actually abide by those rules - especially since I don’t ever remember speaking those rules out loud.
I think about that now and just shake my head. And I shake my head over the people who do very dangerous things because they like the adrenaline rush. We don’t need to add more danger to our lives because the reality is that we live in a very dangerous world. There are unexpected things, things over which we have no control, which can injure or even kill us. They’re all around us.
That’s what the disciples of Jesus were experiencing. When it was evening, they’d gotten into the boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. A terrible storm blew up. Jesus was sleeping in the stern of the boat, and the disciples were more and more afraid that they were going to die. They didn’t know what else to do: they woke up Jesus. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Now think about this for a minute! At least four of these men were fishermen. They knew the power of the storm. They knew what a storm could do to the boat, and they had a healthy respect for the water. They knew they could die - at least under normal circumstances. But Jesus, the One who was, and is, the Son of God was with them. The winds and the waves were under His authority. The winds and the waves had to obey Him. Nothing was going to happen that He didn’t allow to happen.
Sometimes I think about the storms in my life. Those storms are the scary things that happen - the scary things that I wasn’t expecting and that I have no control over. God is still in control and nothing will happen that He doesn’t allow.
Having said that, I’m not planning to go rock climbing. I’m not planning to bungee jump off a cliff. And I don’t need the adrenaline rush of a roller coaster. There are too many truly scary things without intentionally adding a few scary things to my life. I’m not going to intentionally do dangerous things either. I don’t play with poisonous snakes. I don’t drive my car too fast. Some people say that God will protect you from getting hurt. I don’t believe that God will protect you from getting hurt if you are intentionally trying to get hurt.
But when scary things happen in my life, I try to remember that God is in control. He has promised to never leave me or to forsake me. He has promised never to give me more than I can bear. And I know that He loves me - He calls me His treasured possession!
Believing these promises is part of having faith in God. That faith in God helps to keep me from being terrified when the storms of life come. And you know what? Having faith in God is much more rational than believing the spiders will obey your rules just because you want to sleep in the basement.
So what do you do when you are afraid?
Our Rules or God’s?
You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. Mark 7:8
I have played a few card games in my life: Canasta, 500, Cribbage, Spades, Hearts, Spoons, Golf, Kings in the Corner, War with Your Neighbor, and Solitaire in numerous varieties. I don’t mind learning a new game, but I like knowing what the rules are going in. There have been a few times when the rules were explained as we went along - and that’s no fun. Imagine playing hearts for the first time and leading the queen of spades, only to find your opponents chortling with glee because you’ve just eaten the queen. There are times when you might want to play a few practice hands that don’t count because sometimes it’s easier to understand the rules as you see the game unfold, but that’s a totally different thing. Still, it at least makes sense to know the basic rules going in.
So imagine playing a game where the rules change at the whim of the rule maker. I think there are games like that - the wild card and certain values are determined by the dealer before he starts the hand. But once the cards are dealt, even in that game, the dealer can’t change the rules in the middle of the hand. Imagine the frustration of the players if the rules were changed in the middle of the game. What if, in Monopoly, you had built up your kingdom, you had Boardwalk and Parkway with hotels on each and you had several other monopolies. You look like you’re well on the way to creaming everyone else. Then someone says, “We’ve been playing for two hours, so now it’s time to play that when you land on your own property, you have to pay everyone else the rental.” In a democratic gesture, everyone votes for the new measure (over your protests) and you suddenly find yourself losing big time! You know that’s not what the game directions say, that’s not what the game inventor intended, and, frankly, it’s not fair. You played by the rules; you should be winning the game. But some people want to win at all costs - some will cheat, some will lie, some will try to change the rules of the game. Their goal is to come out the victor over everyone else. It’s not much fun to “play” with those kind of people.
Did you know that some people approach the law of God in the same way? Here are the ground rules for the game of life: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All need a Savior. There is only One Savior, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). He is the only Way to Eternal Life (John 14:6). Salvation and Eternal Life are free gifts from God when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Lord of your life. There is nothing you can do to earn salvation; it is a free gift. Once you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have entered into a covenant with Him. He will be your God; you will be part of His people. As your God and King, He gets to make the rules by which you live your life - as subjects of the King of the Universe (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Here’s where it gets kind of tricky for people. They like being saved from the penalty of sin, which is death. Some argue that there are many ways to the kingdom of heaven - you don’t have to have a relationship with Jesus. Others argue that since your goal is salvation, once you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, you’re home free; you don’t have to be concerned about observing any of God’s laws. Still others argue that when Jesus died, He did away with a lot of the old rules (called commandments or laws) - like keeping the Sabbath, or eating unclean foods, or keeping the holy days of God. But Jesus kept the rules of don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t bear false witness, don’t covet, honor your father and your mother - and these other rules as well. Shouldn’t you?!
God’s laws are a reflection of His character, of who He is. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Similarly, God’s laws are still in effect (Romans 3:31). They don’t save you, but they are evidence that you are saved. When you keep God’s laws, you show that you have a relationship with God, that you belong to Him and that He is your Savior from sin and death.
Too many people over the centuries have tried to change the rules - because they don’t want to submit to God, they think His laws are too difficult, or they just want to improve upon His commandments. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day came into conflict with Jesus over this very thing. They had a whole set of laws which were based on their traditions which could be traced back to the law of God, but which had basically changed the law to fit their agenda, their goals, their priorities. Following their tradition had taken them away from following God. Jesus told them, “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).
Think about that for a minute. Here’s a game that you’re playing, and you want to win. Only you think the rules are different than what the inventor of the game says they are! That means, if you keep playing using your rules, you’re never going to win. You’re going to lose. The Pharisees didn’t like being told that they were ignoring God’s law in favor of their own. The implication of Jesus’ words was that they were not going to be in God’s kingdom. They were going to lose.
Once again, observing God’s laws don’t earn salvation. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, keeping God’s laws is evidence that you have been saved. These laws change how you live and shape you into the image of Christ.
Those are the rules of the game. And unlike Monopoly, the game players don’t have the option of democratically voting a change of the rules. We play by God’s rules.
Floating Paperclip - Trust in God
. . . I believe; help my unbelief! Mark 9:24
Materials: paperclips, clear bowl of water, towel (Float the clips on the surface of the water. You can’t place a clip on the surface with just the clip. You have to make a helping clip by bending a paper clip into an L. Then you can gently place the clip on the surface of the water without breaking the surface tension - most of the time.)
The Bible records some pretty amazing events where people had to trust God!
Do you remember how Daniel trusted God? When he was thrown into the lions’ den, God shut the mouths of the hungry lions so they wouldn’t eat him. (Daniel 6)
Do you remember how Noah trusted God? When God told Noah to build an ark, that there was going to be a flood, Noah spent many years building that ark. He collected all the food and the animals to go onto the ark. (Genesis 6-7)
Do you remember how David trusted God? He faced the giant Goliath with a sling and a stone! (1 Samuel 17)
Do you remember how Abraham trusted God? When God told him to go to a place God would show him, Abraham left his home and his father’s house, and obeyed God. (Genesis 12)
There was another time when someone had to trust God. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter called out to him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” (Matthew 14:28) Jesus told Peter to come and Peter stepped out of the boat. He trusted Jesus - at least at the beginning,
There’s one other story I want to remind you of. There was a man whose son had an unclean spirit (Mark 9). The man took his son to Jesus for healing because the evil spirit would not allow the boy to speak, caused him to go into convulsions, and would throw him into the fire or the water, trying to kill him. Jesus told the father that all things are possible for one who believes. I love what the father said back to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Sometimes we encounter things in our lives that we know we can’t do on our own. But we know God can do mighty and powerful things. We know He is able to save us. We know He controls the winds and the waves. We know He is our Healer. We need to trust Him. And even if we trust, but we’re still afraid, we can be like this father who said, “I believe; help my unbelief.”
There’s one other thing to consider when you’re trusting God. Do you remember how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trusted God? They refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzer’s golden idol. They believed God could save them, but even if God didn’t, they were still going to do the right thing. (Daniel 3) You have to trust that, even if God doesn’t work things out like you think he should, even if you sink, you still have to obey Him. You still have to do what you know pleases your God, even if it means you have to go through something very difficult.
resource: https://biblelessonstuff.com/object-lesson-on-faith-walk-on-water/
While You Were Sleeping
Lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. Mark 13:36
Sometimes kids don’t want to go to bed. Perhaps they think they’re going to miss something important. While it is true that some parents wait to eat ice cream until after the kids are in bed, more often parents stay up a little later to have important conversations with each other, or to pay bills and do laundry, or just to have a little piece of quiet! But kids don’t know that. They are sure that Mom and Dad are waiting until they go to bed. Then the parents will have FUN!
But I’m pretty sure that’s not why Jesus told his disciples to stay awake. . . . lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:36-27). In fact, Jesus wasn’t advocating staying awake all the time, never going to sleep. God designed our bodies to recharge during sleep. Studies have shown that kids grow when they’re asleep. While you’re sleeping, your brain processes everything that happened during the day and files it away, or sometimes it spends all night working out an algebra problem you were stuck on when you went to bed, or sometimes it reviews all of the stuff you were supposed to remember for tomorrow’s big test. Researchers have found that it’s much more important to get a good night’s sleep than it is to spend all night cramming for tomorrow’s test. But still, Jesus did tell his disciples to stay awake. So what’s He talking about?
When you’re asleep, you don’t know what’s going on around you. You are completely unaware of what is happening. You’re unconscious. You’re asleep. The family dog could be chewing up your homework. Your older brother could be reorganizing your stuff. Your parents could bring clean clothes into your room. You just don’t know because you’re asleep. It’s such a good analogy for Jesus to use because everyone has experienced waking up in the morning to find something has happened while they were sleeping. Sometimes it’s a big snowstorm. Sometimes you wake up to find out that your mom had the baby in the night. There are sometimes great things that have happened - but you didn’t know because you were asleep.
But for those things, it doesn’t really matter. So what if it snowed while you were sleeping. You can’t go sledding until the sun comes up anyway. If you try to sled at night, you’re likely to run headfirst into a tree.
What really does matter is being awake when Jesus comes back. But I’m still not talking about sleeping. Not really. I’m talking about being aware. Pay attention to the events going on around you. But more importantly, pay attention to yourself. Are you aware of what you’re doing in your daily life? Are you aware of the choices you are making? Are they good choices? And more importantly, are they Godly choices?
We are so busy, and there are so many things that grab our attention during the day. (And no, I’m not saying that we should have less school or less homework.) We can become distracted by the things around us and forget that our most important job is to glorify God in everything we think, everything we say, and everything we do. We can become so preoccupied with what we’re going to do tomorrow, or what someone just said to us, or what happened last week, that we turn on the autopilot and just kind of let our day happen. We aren’t really paying attention to what’s going on around us and we’re certainly not making thoughtful choices about our words and our actions. We’re just moving through our day, reacting to things - almost like we’re sleep-walking.
That’s what Jesus is talking about. When we take the name of Jesus Christ - when we call ourself a Christian - we are representing Him in every one of our thoughts and words and actions. We bring dishonor to Him when we thoughtlessly say something to our brother or sister. We bring dishonor to God when we just don’t think, when we’re careless about what we do or say around other people. Stay awake! Be aware of what you’re doing or saying. Make good choices. No, make Godly choices! God has given you a job to do - to bring glory and honor to Him, and to share the gospel with the people around you (with your words and with how you live your life). Be aware of what you’re doing. Stay awake. Don’t fall asleep on the job. You don’t want to find out that Jesus Christ has returned while you were sleeping, and you’re not ready.
Praise God Anyway
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:26
One summer, my brother, sister, and I went to the Vacation Bible School done by the non-denominational church that my grandparents attended. I really liked the young lady who did the music, Jecca. So when she talked about praising God no matter what’s going on in your life, I listened. Jecca had painted a big sign on their barn, “Praise God anyway,” to remind herself that no matter what was happening in her life, her first priority was to praise God. That idea has rattled around in my mind for almost forty years now, and in my mind, I can still see Jecca teaching us songs and encouraging us to praise God.
Perhaps that theme, of praising God no matter what, is one of the reasons I like Facing the Giants so much. Coach Taylor told his team, “If we win, we praise Him. If we lose, we praise Him.” No matter what would happen in their football season, they had determined to praise God.
So we come to the night that Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room. He’d shared the bread and wine with them. He’d washed their feet. He told Judas Iscariot that what he was about to do, he should do quickly. And then, knowing what was coming - the beating, the travesty of justice, the abandonment, the crucifixion and agonizing death - Jesus got ready to go with his disciples out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus was going to pray to His Father. It was a sobering night, a dreadful night. But here’s how Mark records it: And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives (Mark 14:26). Even knowing what was coming, Jesus was praising God anyway.
It makes you think, doesn’t it? I can think of so many psalms which talk about praising God. “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” (Psalm 150:6). “Praise the Eternal with a psalm” (Psalm 81). “Praise ye the LORD, O, praise ye the LORD. Praise from the heavens and praise in the heights” (Psalm 148:1). But you know, I can think of nowhere that we’re commanded to praise God only when things are going well, or when we are happy, or when we feel like it. We’re told to sing and make music in our hearts to God (Ephesians 5:19). We’re told to speak to one another in hymns and psalms and spiritual songs (Col 3:16). We are told to praise God . . . period.
We’re given examples of when people did sing praises to God: two of my favorites are King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20) and Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:16-40). Jehoshaphat sent out the singers first and God fought the battle against Ammon and Moab. When Paul and Silas began to sing and praise God, an earthquake loosed every prisoners’ chains and the jail doors flew open. The jailer and his entire household were baptized that night. But, just like in Facing the Giants, there are stories of praise even when things didn’t go the way people wanted them to. When the Titanic was sinking, those left on board gathered together and sang “Abide With Me.” Even though they were going to drown, they chose to praise God anyway!
When Jonathan was born, I sang “Come, Thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing Thy praise.” When Christopher broke His jaw in 2006, I sang “Be not dismayed at what e’re betide; God will take care of you.” When we were visiting my grandmother’s ranch that June, I was singing “For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” When we took Ken to his first Feast of Tabernacles in 1997, we stood around the piano one evening and I taught the family “As the Deer.” The night before the Last Great Day in 1991, the whole family walked out through the ponderosa pines at Lake Tahoe to the tennis courts. We lay down and looked at the stars. Almost simultaneously, we started singing “How Great Thou Art.” I can remember so many times in my life when a song was running through my head, both encouraging me and reminding me to praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
Music is a great blessing! It’s a wonderful tool for praising God - whether things are going well or whether you’re experiencing some storms of life. So take a moment. Think about your favorite hymn or Christian song. Which one comes to mind right now? Perhaps it’s the one that God has given you right now to help you praise Him - because of what’s happening in your life, for both the good and the bad.
I’m so encouraged by Mark’s reminder that as Jesus walked into the most difficult day of His life, He sang a hymn of praise to God. Can we but do likewise?
**Proclaim the Gospel
. . . proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Mark 16:15
Materials: big magnet, paperclips, candles, matches
Demonstration: Touch a paperclip to a magnet. Then touch another paperclip to the end of the first paperclip. What happens? The magnetism travels through the first paperclip and attracts the second paperclip to the magnet - through the first paperclip. So something that wasn’t magnetic becomes magnetic - as long as it’s touching the magnet. How many paperclips can be put in the line of paperclips held only by the next closer paperclip?
I love how God gives us physical experiences to help us understand the spiritual reality. There’s a couple of very interesting principles at work here.
First, just as the second paperclip was attracted by the magnetism of the first paperclip as long as the first paperclip is still touching the magnet, so people can be attracted to Jesus Christ as long as we stay connected to Jesus. In other words, we allow others to see Jesus in us - and if we are truly allowing the light of God to shine in our lives, it can be very attractive to them.
An interesting thing happens as you play with the paperclips and the magnet. Eventually, the second paperclip flips over and makes its own connection straight to the magnet. You can’t get it to re-connect only to the first paperclip. The attraction to the magnet is too strong. In a similar way, we don’t want people to continue to be connected to Jesus through us. We want them to have their own connection to Jesus.
Second demonstration: Light a candle. I only have one match. But I can use that candle to light another candle. In the same way, if I share the gospel (the good news) of Jesus Christ to the people around me (shining my light), then they too may be attracted to God’s truth and begin to shine the truth to the people around them.
There’s a saying: you may be the only Bible anyone ever reads. That’s because there are people out there who never read their Bible. So you may be the magnet or the light which attracts them to Jesus. Or if you’re not connected or not on fire, you can miss that opportunity for someone to come to know Jesus. You can have an impact, for good or for bad, on every person you meet. And you never know who is watching what you do and what you say. So it’s an important thing to remember when you are out with your friends or out with your mom - you can attract others to God, if you allow God to work through you.
Secondly, if you have more than one paperclip attached to the magnet, you can pick up a longer line of paperclips. When we work together as a church body, we have a greater chance of reaching more people with the love of God. You may be really good at listening. Your sister may be very loving. Your brother may be very kind and gentle. People see different characteristic traits in our church family that draw them to fellowship and be drawn closer to Jesus Christ.
So as a church family, we not only have a greater impact on the people around us, we also have a greater impact - as a church body - on the rest of the church body. The more people there are, the more we are tied together. And the Bible affirms this observation in Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Or if you bring three candles together, the fire that they make can shine light farther than just one candle can by itself.
Jesus told His disciples (and by extension, all of us) to preach the gospel to the whole creation. In addition to our words, our actions can also be very attractive to others. Our actions shine God’s light because they are seen. And, when we come together as a church body we are more effective, more attractive, and shine more light than each of us alone, by ourselves. Jesus gave us a job to do. Let’s preach the gospel faithfully and efficiently as God leads us.
. . . proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Mark 16:15
(**denotes very visual devotion)
Mark 2:9 - Healing
Mark 2:27 - The Sabbath (Holy Day Lesson - The Sabbath)
**Mark 4:24 - Pay Attention to What You Hear
Mark 4:40 - When You're Afraid
Mark 7:8 - Our Rules or God's?
**Mark 9:24 - Floating Paperclips - Trusting God
Mark 13:36 - While You Were Sleeping
Mark 13:26 - Praise God Anyway
**Mark 16:15 - Proclaim the Gospel
Healing
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”? Mark 2:9
How great is our God? When you think of the amazing things that He can do, what comes to mind? What kind of power does He have?
One day when Jesus was at home in Capernaum, he was teaching. There were so many people listening to him that the house was crowded full. Four men wanted to bring a paralytic to Jesus to heal, but they couldn't get close to Him because of the number of people gathered around Jesus. So they hoisted the paralytic up onto the roof. They dug through the roof and lowered the paralytic on his mat right in front of Jesus.
Now, Mark is known for his brevity. He doesn’t give us lots of details. But can you imagine what this would have been like? Perhaps the roof was a thatch roof with branches, straw, reed, or palm leaves. It could possibly been a roof with branches covered with sod. It could have had rough shingles. Either way, it would have been full of leaves, dirt, insects, perhaps a mouse or two. These four men are digging through this roof to make an opening large enough to lower the paralytic through on his mat. Can you imagine the debris (leaves, dirt, insects) falling on the people in the home? I can imagine they weren’t feeling too charitable towards these guys. And I imagine the owner wasn’t either!
But Jesus’ reaction is so different. He doesn’t rebuke them for disturbing his teaching. He doesn’t chide them for messing up the house. He doesn’t seem upset at them at all. In fact, He sees their faith. What faith? They have to have really believed that Jesus could heal their friend. If you only think Jesus can do it, you don’t go to all the work to hoist a friend up on a roof, dig through the roof, and lower him in front of Jesus. If you think there’s a good possibility that maybe Jesus can do something, you might wait for Jesus to come out of the house; He’s got to come out some time!! But, these men truly believed that Jesus could heal him. And they cared enough about their friend to want it to happen now. Jesus saw their faith . . . so He healed their friend. Right? Well, not immediately.
Jesus told the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Can you imagine the reaction of the four friends? They might have been thinking, “Wait a minute! That’s not what we came for. We wanted him to walk.” The reaction of the scribes was very negative! They thought in their hearts that Jesus was blaspheming because only God can forgive sins. If Jesus is forgiving this man’s sins, then Jesus is claiming to be God. The scribes were not happy with Jesus’ statement. And Jesus knew it. So He said to the paralytic: Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”? Mark 2:9
Think about this for a minute. Which is easier to say: your sins are forgiven or take up your bed and walk? We may be thinking that it’s a whole lot easier to forgive someone of their sins. You just say, “O.K. I forgive you” and you’re done. But you actually have to change something, to heal something, to fix something in order for the paralytic to walk again. But Jesus simply said, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’?”
It causes us to stop and think, doesn’t it? What is involved in forgiving sins? It’s more than just saying the words, isn’t it? Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. That’s a lot more than just saying words. The forgiveness of sins requires a blood sacrifice, specifically, Jesus’ blood sacrifice on our behalf. Yet, Isaiah 53:5 says that by Jesus stripes, the suffering He endured as He was being crucified, we are healed. Our physical healing and our spiritual healing is possible because of our Messiah’s death and resurrection.
Jesus also made it quite plain, to anyone who heard Him that day, that He had the authority to forgive sin. He was, in fact, telling them all that He was, and is, God - God, the Son and the Son of God.
The paralytic was healed that day. Jesus told him to pick up his bed and go home. The crowd was amazed, saying that they’d never seen anything like it. They were amazed the man was walking. Did they miss the significance of what Jesus had said? Did they not realize that he’d forgiven the man’s sins - that he was clean before God? Maybe not - because, after all, we can’t really see anything when a person’s sins are forgiven.
At any rate, I’m so very glad those four men had the faith to dig through the roof. I’m glad this event is recorded for us to read and to consider. Think about it: what if Jesus had healed the man so he could walk and yet he carried his sin debt. He would have died, eventually. But if Jesus had forgiven his sins and left him a paralytic, he would have been assured of eternal life in God’s kingdom. Which do you think is more important to God? It’s a poignant reminder to us that we don’t see things the way God does.
Something to think about, isn’t it?
The Sabbath
"And he said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27
I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy when I was little. One of the chapters dealt with sabbath observance. The children were required to sit on a bench, study the Bible, sit still all day. They couldn’t play; they couldn’t talk. They were just supposed to sit quietly, reverently until the sun set. But they’d been given a new sled just before sabbath began the night before. So the boys excised themselves to go to the outhouse, pulled the sled to the top of the hill, and accidentally slid down the hill backwards past the window of the house. They quickly put the sled away and slid back into their place on the bench. When the Sabbath was over, their father took the boys to the shed and whipped them. They had broken the Sabbath commandment and had to be punished.
This, to me, is exactly what Christ was speaking of: they’d made the children conduct themselves as if they were made for the Sabbath. The day was no longer, if it indeed ever had been, a day to eagerly anticipate and enjoy. It was a day to dread.
God doesn’t want us to view the precious and holy Sabbath as a day to be dreaded, to be gotten through, to be endured. It is a day of rest, a memorial of Creation, and a day which reminds us of who gives us eternal rest. It points to our Redeemer. So while there is definitely a prohibition against working on the Sabbath and doing your own pleasure with no thought for God, the Sabbath day itself is to be pleasurable for each of God’s people!
I wouldn’t cook an elaborate meal on the Sabbath, but I might make something special. I wouldn’t give the kids a haircut on the Sabbath, but I will take extra time braiding my daughter’s hair before church. I wouldn’t pick a gallon of strawberries before breakfast, but I might pick a handful to eat with breakfast.
The Sabbath is to be a delight to each of us. If we, God’s people, don’t view the Sabbath as something special, something to be anticipated, something to look forward to all week long, how in the world are we going to convince the people around us that we have something they need? Why would they want to be part of a joyless religion, a duty-filled drudgery? A burden-filled Sabbath is an offense to our God on so many levels and is a travesty for His people.
Do you enjoy the Sabbath? Do you look forward to it each week? Do you call it a delight? Is the Sabbath for you, or do you think you were made for the Sabbath?
**Pay Attention to What You Hear
Pay attention to what you hear: . . . Mark 4:24
Materials: ear muffs, ear plugs, whistles, bells, alarms, good/bad books
Why should you pay attention to what you hear?
* It could be harmful.
Protect yourself from loud noises that can damage your ear drum. Use ear protection whenever you’re going to encounter loud noises. The alarm clock and Mom’s voice do NOT fall into this category.
Protect yourself from ungodly sounds, noises, messages which can
damage you emotionally and spiritually. Carefully consider what you watch on tv, what music you listen to, what friends you choose to be around, people who habitually swear and take God’s name in vain . . .
Protect yourself from liars and mischief-makers by carefully considering and verifying what someone tells you. You can’t always believe what other people say. If you believe a false report, you can ruin a friendship. You can find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time. You could find yourself out of God’s will.
It could be very important to your life and prosperity.
Listen to the warnings that people give you (but check them out thoroughly). If you don’t believe the road is out ahead, you can find yourself in the crick without a paddle.
Listen to fire alarms, alarm clocks, and oven timers. Those sounds are there for your good.
*Whether you hear to avoid something bad or to get a blessing, it’s not enough to just hear! The wise person acts on what he has heard! Think about it! If the alarm goes off, it’s a sound that means you need to do something - like get out of bed. If you hear a tornado siren going off, you should take cover. If you hear God’s word telling you to act in a certain way, you must adjust your actions accordingly.
To recap: Choose carefully what you listen to - eschew the harmful and choose the good. Once you’ve determined which it is, do something about it. Don’t be foolish; pay attention to what you hear.
When You’re Afraid
He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Mark 4:40
Do you know that some people ride rollercoasters on purpose so they can be scared? They like the feeling of being so terrified that they might die that they scream at the top of their lungs! And, if they’ve ridden the roller coaster so many times that the scariness is wearing off, they raise their hands into the air. It’s like telling their brains that they aren’t holding onto anything. They could, just possibly, die. But, 99.9999% of the time, the roller coaster works like it’s supposed to, and no one dies.
Some people drive their cars really fast, or bungee jump off cliffs, or sky dive, or go rock climbing for the same reason. It’s almost as if they are sitting next to themselves and they want to scare their brains - the brains which know that what they’re doing is very dangerous and they could actually die. But, for one reason or another, they think that nothing will happen to them.
Sometimes when there’s a really scary thing, we play games with our brains. We make up rules to convince ourselves that there’s really no danger, even though our brains know there really is. When I was 12 years old, I decided I didn’t want to share a room with my sister anymore. So one day, when I got home from school, I moved all of my stuff to the basement. When Mom got home, I had a bed made up downstairs and all my clothes were moved. Mom agreed I could sleep downstairs, but I don’t think she thought I’d last too long. Since we lived in Wyoming, there weren’t many spiders (at least compared to Missouri), but there were still spiders. I knew we had spiders because we had spider webs. But I really wanted to sleep downstairs, so first I tried sleeping with the covers over my head. I couldn’t breathe. So eventually I made up a rule for the spiders. As long as my body was covered up, they weren’t allowed to crawl on my face. I don’t know how I managed to convince my brain that the spiders could actually hear those rules, understand those rules, and actually abide by those rules - especially since I don’t ever remember speaking those rules out loud.
I think about that now and just shake my head. And I shake my head over the people who do very dangerous things because they like the adrenaline rush. We don’t need to add more danger to our lives because the reality is that we live in a very dangerous world. There are unexpected things, things over which we have no control, which can injure or even kill us. They’re all around us.
That’s what the disciples of Jesus were experiencing. When it was evening, they’d gotten into the boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. A terrible storm blew up. Jesus was sleeping in the stern of the boat, and the disciples were more and more afraid that they were going to die. They didn’t know what else to do: they woke up Jesus. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Now think about this for a minute! At least four of these men were fishermen. They knew the power of the storm. They knew what a storm could do to the boat, and they had a healthy respect for the water. They knew they could die - at least under normal circumstances. But Jesus, the One who was, and is, the Son of God was with them. The winds and the waves were under His authority. The winds and the waves had to obey Him. Nothing was going to happen that He didn’t allow to happen.
Sometimes I think about the storms in my life. Those storms are the scary things that happen - the scary things that I wasn’t expecting and that I have no control over. God is still in control and nothing will happen that He doesn’t allow.
Having said that, I’m not planning to go rock climbing. I’m not planning to bungee jump off a cliff. And I don’t need the adrenaline rush of a roller coaster. There are too many truly scary things without intentionally adding a few scary things to my life. I’m not going to intentionally do dangerous things either. I don’t play with poisonous snakes. I don’t drive my car too fast. Some people say that God will protect you from getting hurt. I don’t believe that God will protect you from getting hurt if you are intentionally trying to get hurt.
But when scary things happen in my life, I try to remember that God is in control. He has promised to never leave me or to forsake me. He has promised never to give me more than I can bear. And I know that He loves me - He calls me His treasured possession!
Believing these promises is part of having faith in God. That faith in God helps to keep me from being terrified when the storms of life come. And you know what? Having faith in God is much more rational than believing the spiders will obey your rules just because you want to sleep in the basement.
So what do you do when you are afraid?
Our Rules or God’s?
You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. Mark 7:8
I have played a few card games in my life: Canasta, 500, Cribbage, Spades, Hearts, Spoons, Golf, Kings in the Corner, War with Your Neighbor, and Solitaire in numerous varieties. I don’t mind learning a new game, but I like knowing what the rules are going in. There have been a few times when the rules were explained as we went along - and that’s no fun. Imagine playing hearts for the first time and leading the queen of spades, only to find your opponents chortling with glee because you’ve just eaten the queen. There are times when you might want to play a few practice hands that don’t count because sometimes it’s easier to understand the rules as you see the game unfold, but that’s a totally different thing. Still, it at least makes sense to know the basic rules going in.
So imagine playing a game where the rules change at the whim of the rule maker. I think there are games like that - the wild card and certain values are determined by the dealer before he starts the hand. But once the cards are dealt, even in that game, the dealer can’t change the rules in the middle of the hand. Imagine the frustration of the players if the rules were changed in the middle of the game. What if, in Monopoly, you had built up your kingdom, you had Boardwalk and Parkway with hotels on each and you had several other monopolies. You look like you’re well on the way to creaming everyone else. Then someone says, “We’ve been playing for two hours, so now it’s time to play that when you land on your own property, you have to pay everyone else the rental.” In a democratic gesture, everyone votes for the new measure (over your protests) and you suddenly find yourself losing big time! You know that’s not what the game directions say, that’s not what the game inventor intended, and, frankly, it’s not fair. You played by the rules; you should be winning the game. But some people want to win at all costs - some will cheat, some will lie, some will try to change the rules of the game. Their goal is to come out the victor over everyone else. It’s not much fun to “play” with those kind of people.
Did you know that some people approach the law of God in the same way? Here are the ground rules for the game of life: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All need a Savior. There is only One Savior, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). He is the only Way to Eternal Life (John 14:6). Salvation and Eternal Life are free gifts from God when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Lord of your life. There is nothing you can do to earn salvation; it is a free gift. Once you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have entered into a covenant with Him. He will be your God; you will be part of His people. As your God and King, He gets to make the rules by which you live your life - as subjects of the King of the Universe (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Here’s where it gets kind of tricky for people. They like being saved from the penalty of sin, which is death. Some argue that there are many ways to the kingdom of heaven - you don’t have to have a relationship with Jesus. Others argue that since your goal is salvation, once you’ve accepted Jesus as your Savior, you’re home free; you don’t have to be concerned about observing any of God’s laws. Still others argue that when Jesus died, He did away with a lot of the old rules (called commandments or laws) - like keeping the Sabbath, or eating unclean foods, or keeping the holy days of God. But Jesus kept the rules of don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t bear false witness, don’t covet, honor your father and your mother - and these other rules as well. Shouldn’t you?!
God’s laws are a reflection of His character, of who He is. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Similarly, God’s laws are still in effect (Romans 3:31). They don’t save you, but they are evidence that you are saved. When you keep God’s laws, you show that you have a relationship with God, that you belong to Him and that He is your Savior from sin and death.
Too many people over the centuries have tried to change the rules - because they don’t want to submit to God, they think His laws are too difficult, or they just want to improve upon His commandments. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day came into conflict with Jesus over this very thing. They had a whole set of laws which were based on their traditions which could be traced back to the law of God, but which had basically changed the law to fit their agenda, their goals, their priorities. Following their tradition had taken them away from following God. Jesus told them, “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).
Think about that for a minute. Here’s a game that you’re playing, and you want to win. Only you think the rules are different than what the inventor of the game says they are! That means, if you keep playing using your rules, you’re never going to win. You’re going to lose. The Pharisees didn’t like being told that they were ignoring God’s law in favor of their own. The implication of Jesus’ words was that they were not going to be in God’s kingdom. They were going to lose.
Once again, observing God’s laws don’t earn salvation. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, keeping God’s laws is evidence that you have been saved. These laws change how you live and shape you into the image of Christ.
Those are the rules of the game. And unlike Monopoly, the game players don’t have the option of democratically voting a change of the rules. We play by God’s rules.
Floating Paperclip - Trust in God
. . . I believe; help my unbelief! Mark 9:24
Materials: paperclips, clear bowl of water, towel (Float the clips on the surface of the water. You can’t place a clip on the surface with just the clip. You have to make a helping clip by bending a paper clip into an L. Then you can gently place the clip on the surface of the water without breaking the surface tension - most of the time.)
The Bible records some pretty amazing events where people had to trust God!
Do you remember how Daniel trusted God? When he was thrown into the lions’ den, God shut the mouths of the hungry lions so they wouldn’t eat him. (Daniel 6)
Do you remember how Noah trusted God? When God told Noah to build an ark, that there was going to be a flood, Noah spent many years building that ark. He collected all the food and the animals to go onto the ark. (Genesis 6-7)
Do you remember how David trusted God? He faced the giant Goliath with a sling and a stone! (1 Samuel 17)
Do you remember how Abraham trusted God? When God told him to go to a place God would show him, Abraham left his home and his father’s house, and obeyed God. (Genesis 12)
There was another time when someone had to trust God. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter called out to him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” (Matthew 14:28) Jesus told Peter to come and Peter stepped out of the boat. He trusted Jesus - at least at the beginning,
There’s one other story I want to remind you of. There was a man whose son had an unclean spirit (Mark 9). The man took his son to Jesus for healing because the evil spirit would not allow the boy to speak, caused him to go into convulsions, and would throw him into the fire or the water, trying to kill him. Jesus told the father that all things are possible for one who believes. I love what the father said back to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
Sometimes we encounter things in our lives that we know we can’t do on our own. But we know God can do mighty and powerful things. We know He is able to save us. We know He controls the winds and the waves. We know He is our Healer. We need to trust Him. And even if we trust, but we’re still afraid, we can be like this father who said, “I believe; help my unbelief.”
There’s one other thing to consider when you’re trusting God. Do you remember how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trusted God? They refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzer’s golden idol. They believed God could save them, but even if God didn’t, they were still going to do the right thing. (Daniel 3) You have to trust that, even if God doesn’t work things out like you think he should, even if you sink, you still have to obey Him. You still have to do what you know pleases your God, even if it means you have to go through something very difficult.
resource: https://biblelessonstuff.com/object-lesson-on-faith-walk-on-water/
While You Were Sleeping
Lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. Mark 13:36
Sometimes kids don’t want to go to bed. Perhaps they think they’re going to miss something important. While it is true that some parents wait to eat ice cream until after the kids are in bed, more often parents stay up a little later to have important conversations with each other, or to pay bills and do laundry, or just to have a little piece of quiet! But kids don’t know that. They are sure that Mom and Dad are waiting until they go to bed. Then the parents will have FUN!
But I’m pretty sure that’s not why Jesus told his disciples to stay awake. . . . lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:36-27). In fact, Jesus wasn’t advocating staying awake all the time, never going to sleep. God designed our bodies to recharge during sleep. Studies have shown that kids grow when they’re asleep. While you’re sleeping, your brain processes everything that happened during the day and files it away, or sometimes it spends all night working out an algebra problem you were stuck on when you went to bed, or sometimes it reviews all of the stuff you were supposed to remember for tomorrow’s big test. Researchers have found that it’s much more important to get a good night’s sleep than it is to spend all night cramming for tomorrow’s test. But still, Jesus did tell his disciples to stay awake. So what’s He talking about?
When you’re asleep, you don’t know what’s going on around you. You are completely unaware of what is happening. You’re unconscious. You’re asleep. The family dog could be chewing up your homework. Your older brother could be reorganizing your stuff. Your parents could bring clean clothes into your room. You just don’t know because you’re asleep. It’s such a good analogy for Jesus to use because everyone has experienced waking up in the morning to find something has happened while they were sleeping. Sometimes it’s a big snowstorm. Sometimes you wake up to find out that your mom had the baby in the night. There are sometimes great things that have happened - but you didn’t know because you were asleep.
But for those things, it doesn’t really matter. So what if it snowed while you were sleeping. You can’t go sledding until the sun comes up anyway. If you try to sled at night, you’re likely to run headfirst into a tree.
What really does matter is being awake when Jesus comes back. But I’m still not talking about sleeping. Not really. I’m talking about being aware. Pay attention to the events going on around you. But more importantly, pay attention to yourself. Are you aware of what you’re doing in your daily life? Are you aware of the choices you are making? Are they good choices? And more importantly, are they Godly choices?
We are so busy, and there are so many things that grab our attention during the day. (And no, I’m not saying that we should have less school or less homework.) We can become distracted by the things around us and forget that our most important job is to glorify God in everything we think, everything we say, and everything we do. We can become so preoccupied with what we’re going to do tomorrow, or what someone just said to us, or what happened last week, that we turn on the autopilot and just kind of let our day happen. We aren’t really paying attention to what’s going on around us and we’re certainly not making thoughtful choices about our words and our actions. We’re just moving through our day, reacting to things - almost like we’re sleep-walking.
That’s what Jesus is talking about. When we take the name of Jesus Christ - when we call ourself a Christian - we are representing Him in every one of our thoughts and words and actions. We bring dishonor to Him when we thoughtlessly say something to our brother or sister. We bring dishonor to God when we just don’t think, when we’re careless about what we do or say around other people. Stay awake! Be aware of what you’re doing or saying. Make good choices. No, make Godly choices! God has given you a job to do - to bring glory and honor to Him, and to share the gospel with the people around you (with your words and with how you live your life). Be aware of what you’re doing. Stay awake. Don’t fall asleep on the job. You don’t want to find out that Jesus Christ has returned while you were sleeping, and you’re not ready.
Praise God Anyway
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Mark 14:26
One summer, my brother, sister, and I went to the Vacation Bible School done by the non-denominational church that my grandparents attended. I really liked the young lady who did the music, Jecca. So when she talked about praising God no matter what’s going on in your life, I listened. Jecca had painted a big sign on their barn, “Praise God anyway,” to remind herself that no matter what was happening in her life, her first priority was to praise God. That idea has rattled around in my mind for almost forty years now, and in my mind, I can still see Jecca teaching us songs and encouraging us to praise God.
Perhaps that theme, of praising God no matter what, is one of the reasons I like Facing the Giants so much. Coach Taylor told his team, “If we win, we praise Him. If we lose, we praise Him.” No matter what would happen in their football season, they had determined to praise God.
So we come to the night that Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room. He’d shared the bread and wine with them. He’d washed their feet. He told Judas Iscariot that what he was about to do, he should do quickly. And then, knowing what was coming - the beating, the travesty of justice, the abandonment, the crucifixion and agonizing death - Jesus got ready to go with his disciples out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus was going to pray to His Father. It was a sobering night, a dreadful night. But here’s how Mark records it: And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives (Mark 14:26). Even knowing what was coming, Jesus was praising God anyway.
It makes you think, doesn’t it? I can think of so many psalms which talk about praising God. “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD” (Psalm 150:6). “Praise the Eternal with a psalm” (Psalm 81). “Praise ye the LORD, O, praise ye the LORD. Praise from the heavens and praise in the heights” (Psalm 148:1). But you know, I can think of nowhere that we’re commanded to praise God only when things are going well, or when we are happy, or when we feel like it. We’re told to sing and make music in our hearts to God (Ephesians 5:19). We’re told to speak to one another in hymns and psalms and spiritual songs (Col 3:16). We are told to praise God . . . period.
We’re given examples of when people did sing praises to God: two of my favorites are King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20) and Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16:16-40). Jehoshaphat sent out the singers first and God fought the battle against Ammon and Moab. When Paul and Silas began to sing and praise God, an earthquake loosed every prisoners’ chains and the jail doors flew open. The jailer and his entire household were baptized that night. But, just like in Facing the Giants, there are stories of praise even when things didn’t go the way people wanted them to. When the Titanic was sinking, those left on board gathered together and sang “Abide With Me.” Even though they were going to drown, they chose to praise God anyway!
When Jonathan was born, I sang “Come, Thou Fount of every blessing; tune my heart to sing Thy praise.” When Christopher broke His jaw in 2006, I sang “Be not dismayed at what e’re betide; God will take care of you.” When we were visiting my grandmother’s ranch that June, I was singing “For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” When we took Ken to his first Feast of Tabernacles in 1997, we stood around the piano one evening and I taught the family “As the Deer.” The night before the Last Great Day in 1991, the whole family walked out through the ponderosa pines at Lake Tahoe to the tennis courts. We lay down and looked at the stars. Almost simultaneously, we started singing “How Great Thou Art.” I can remember so many times in my life when a song was running through my head, both encouraging me and reminding me to praise God from Whom all blessings flow.
Music is a great blessing! It’s a wonderful tool for praising God - whether things are going well or whether you’re experiencing some storms of life. So take a moment. Think about your favorite hymn or Christian song. Which one comes to mind right now? Perhaps it’s the one that God has given you right now to help you praise Him - because of what’s happening in your life, for both the good and the bad.
I’m so encouraged by Mark’s reminder that as Jesus walked into the most difficult day of His life, He sang a hymn of praise to God. Can we but do likewise?
**Proclaim the Gospel
. . . proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Mark 16:15
Materials: big magnet, paperclips, candles, matches
Demonstration: Touch a paperclip to a magnet. Then touch another paperclip to the end of the first paperclip. What happens? The magnetism travels through the first paperclip and attracts the second paperclip to the magnet - through the first paperclip. So something that wasn’t magnetic becomes magnetic - as long as it’s touching the magnet. How many paperclips can be put in the line of paperclips held only by the next closer paperclip?
I love how God gives us physical experiences to help us understand the spiritual reality. There’s a couple of very interesting principles at work here.
First, just as the second paperclip was attracted by the magnetism of the first paperclip as long as the first paperclip is still touching the magnet, so people can be attracted to Jesus Christ as long as we stay connected to Jesus. In other words, we allow others to see Jesus in us - and if we are truly allowing the light of God to shine in our lives, it can be very attractive to them.
An interesting thing happens as you play with the paperclips and the magnet. Eventually, the second paperclip flips over and makes its own connection straight to the magnet. You can’t get it to re-connect only to the first paperclip. The attraction to the magnet is too strong. In a similar way, we don’t want people to continue to be connected to Jesus through us. We want them to have their own connection to Jesus.
Second demonstration: Light a candle. I only have one match. But I can use that candle to light another candle. In the same way, if I share the gospel (the good news) of Jesus Christ to the people around me (shining my light), then they too may be attracted to God’s truth and begin to shine the truth to the people around them.
There’s a saying: you may be the only Bible anyone ever reads. That’s because there are people out there who never read their Bible. So you may be the magnet or the light which attracts them to Jesus. Or if you’re not connected or not on fire, you can miss that opportunity for someone to come to know Jesus. You can have an impact, for good or for bad, on every person you meet. And you never know who is watching what you do and what you say. So it’s an important thing to remember when you are out with your friends or out with your mom - you can attract others to God, if you allow God to work through you.
Secondly, if you have more than one paperclip attached to the magnet, you can pick up a longer line of paperclips. When we work together as a church body, we have a greater chance of reaching more people with the love of God. You may be really good at listening. Your sister may be very loving. Your brother may be very kind and gentle. People see different characteristic traits in our church family that draw them to fellowship and be drawn closer to Jesus Christ.
So as a church family, we not only have a greater impact on the people around us, we also have a greater impact - as a church body - on the rest of the church body. The more people there are, the more we are tied together. And the Bible affirms this observation in Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Or if you bring three candles together, the fire that they make can shine light farther than just one candle can by itself.
Jesus told His disciples (and by extension, all of us) to preach the gospel to the whole creation. In addition to our words, our actions can also be very attractive to others. Our actions shine God’s light because they are seen. And, when we come together as a church body we are more effective, more attractive, and shine more light than each of us alone, by ourselves. Jesus gave us a job to do. Let’s preach the gospel faithfully and efficiently as God leads us.
. . . proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Mark 16:15
