Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Will the right faith in me please step forward?

FAITH FAITH FAITH........

"And he kept repeating, Do you not yet understand?"(Mark 8:21)

I can't believe all the different forms belief and faith take in
Mark 4-8! It is displayed at all different levels - from those who
didn't have any, and hence missed out on Jesus power, to the kind that demons had ( ironically confident enough to beg Him because of His power - making me wonder if sometimes my faith hasn't even been as confident as theirs.)
You see Herod, riding the fence with his belief,- both intrigued by what John the Baptist shared and yet non-committal, and so ends up having to kill the very man he was fascinated by. The Pharisees, confident faith in themselves, again, missed the boat. (I have to say I found my toes being stepped on more than I liked to admit in this passage. )
And even with the disciples, we see that although they witnessed so much, Jesus was worried that they weren't taking it all in and letting in make a difference in how they thought about life and problems. They were still befuddled about how to handle lifes problems despite Jesus having an amazing track record for them.
In my spiritual journey, I at some point have found myself at almost every place. ( Sometimes I feel I'm at different points in the same day. ) I love how these chapters end with Jesus drawing the disciples unto Himself to explain again what life is about.

"If anyone intends to come after me, let him deny himself, ( forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interest) and take up his cross and follow with Me (continually cleaving steadfastly to Me). For whoever wants to save his ( higher, spiritual, eternal) life will lose it, (the lower, natural, temporal life which is lived only on earth); and whoever gives up his life ( which is lived only on earth) for My sake and the Gospel's will save it ( his higher spiritual life in the eternal kingdom of God). " Mark 8: 34-35 AMP

So I find that might be a good daily question to ask myself.
"Do I yet understand? "

1 comment:

DJT said...

Unfortunately, I think I could ask that question everyday and find my self still answering, no, I really don't understand. If I feel that way, how much more would Jesus answer that way for me.

It is amazing that he still accepts me.

I do think it shows maturity for you to ask the question. I often think people can get stuck in the "no question" zone and assume everything is fine. To me, it shows a very healthy relationship that you have with him.