My thoughts (Ben Lamb):

What in this world (or the next) could ever be more comforting that love? Jesus isn’t yammerin’ on endlessly here about some trendy way of expressing a passing fad known only during his era. Nope, not at all.

If the Son of God is willing to give up his life for us, then he must be — by his own definition — telling us that he loves us supremely.

But what about all of the people in the world who don’t know such comforting love? As Christians, we’re called to be Jesus’ representatives here on earth and to keep his commandments while guided by the Holy Spirit. So, what’s a Christian to do? Go out and sign up for a crucifixion? I think not. Talk about “thinning the herd”! What a silly notion.

I believe there are other ways through which we can “lay down our lives,” or to put it another way: make sacrifices of selfless love. [No need to roll your eyes; there’s not an exhaustive list of suggestions in the following paragraph.]

You can come up with your own ideas. What are some instances in your own life that have made you stop and say, “Wow, I’m really touched by that act of selflessness? They didn’t have to do that for me, but did it anyway, and without griping or trying to get something in return.”

One example will stick in my mind forever. Dad died unexpectedly, and no preparations had been decided upon beforehand. By the time the family left the hospital, made more arrangements and got home late at night, it dawned on us that we hadn’t eaten anything since an early breakfast. But, we were so exhausted and mind-numbed that nobody could do much except collapse in chairs and think, “What now?”

Just a few minutes later, we heard a knock on the front door. When I opened it, there stood a friend of the family with bags of groceries. He handed them to me and went back to his car to bring in more — in all, enough food to feed us for several days. All of the items required little or no preparation, too. It was modern day manna from heaven!

I am still grateful (even many years later now) for that moment in our deeply hurting and unexpectedly very busy lives when this kind friend took time out of his own hugely busy agenda to “lay down” the regular orderly schedule of his life for us.

The world is filled with people who so intensely crave the feeling of love that we, as Christians, get to tap into on an on-going basis. The supply is endless. Let us share it with all we can. This song made popular by Steve Green states it beautifully for me:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thought for the day: I want to be alert and aware of the times when I’m called to “lay down” my life for others.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Mark Shoup):

I like this passage because it’s a well known Bible story that anyone who lived through Sunday school knows. But there is more going on here than meets the eye.

When Jesus hears that his good friend Lazarus is sick, he stays where he is for two additional days before heading off to Judea to be with him. As they started out for Judea, he even tells his disciples that Lazarus has died, making it clear that when they get there and are informed that Lazarus has been “in the tomb” for 4 days, it should be no surprise to Jesus. However, when confronted by Mary weeping with her grief, Jesus does something completely unexpected. He breaks down and cries! Knowing full well that he is about to raise Lazarus from the dead for the glorification of God, he is still overcome with human emotion. Such a strange reaction!

Or is it?

It makes no sense that Jesus would be crying out of grief — He knows that in just moments, Lazarus would be among the living once again, right? He must have been crying out of empathy for Mary, Martha and the other mourners! Think about that. Our savior feels so bad when we are upset that he himself was moved to tears, even though he was about to make everything right! It’s no wonder that verse 35, “Jesus wept,” is the shortest verse in the Bible. It carries so much implication that it could neither be combined with the verse before it nor the one after it.

Now remember a time when someone close to you died. It’s common to be angry at God when a loved one is taken home. Anger is a natural part of the grieving process that we go through. Now imagine that, while it is beyond our earthly intellect to know why that loved one was called home by God, God knows we are hurting and our sorrow makes God cry.

Our Lord is just that compassionate!

Thought for the day: God calls us to be like Jesus here on earth. Who do we know that is hurting and needs our compassion?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Kay Olry):

I had never understood the whole dynamic of Mark’s account of Jesus walking up, saying a few words, and Simon and Andrew, then James and John drop everything to follow him. They leave home, family, security, the familiar — absolutely everything — and follow him.

Nothing is mentioned about making preparations, or spending time weighing the pros and the cons. No long discussions with family members and friends; they didn’t even consult their Rabbi. It isn’t as if Jesus was a well-known teacher at this point. After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus disappeared into the desert for 40 days, spent a brief time in Galilee, and then met up with the four of them in their fishing boats. He spoke a couple of sentences, and they didn’t hesitate — they followed.

It wasn’t until I read the first chapter of the Gospel of John that it made more sense; Andrew saw Jesus as he was baptized. He spent the day with him, and tells Simon, “We have found the Messiah!” I wonder if they really knew what they were doing — or if meeting The Christ was so overwhelming that no other decision made sense.

The entire Jewish nation was waiting on the promised Messiah to come; it had been promised long before. It’s interesting that when Jesus began gathering disciples, they weren’t the best and the brightest or highly educated people — no professors or priestly types. He chose common people.

It’s incredible what transpires from these humble beginnings. Jesus started a revolution and changed the world by using very ordinary people. The first disciples had no idea what the church would look like 2000 years later; and yet from this simple beginning millions and millions of people have had their lives transformed by Christ.

Do you ever wonder how you would react in the same situation? Whether or not you could throw all caution to the wind and simply follow Him?

The call to become fishers of people for Christ is the same today as it was then. Our part is to figure out how that looks in each of our lives. He doesn’t say, “When you get time, when the bills are paid, after you (fill in the blank _____)…” The way that Christ continues to reach the world is through our hearts, hands and feet, and voices. The Living God lives through us!

Does that mean we all quit our jobs tomorrow, start wearing robes, and spend all of our time singing Kumbaya? Of course not. The world desperately needs Christ Followers in every walk of life. It does mean that each of us needs to look at our lives and figure out how we can give more of ourselves to Christ, in order to deepen our faith, and to continue changing the world.

Thought For The Day: What in my life needs to change so that I can get closer to Christ? How can I follow Him?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Steve Adams):

It may sound blasphemous, but at first glance the devil’s proposition doesn’t seem all that bad to me.

What if Jesus had taken authority over all the kingdoms of the world and received the glory for it? Couldn’t He have run the kingdoms of the world better than anybody else — and still become our Savior? The big catch is revealed in verse 7: Jesus had to worship the devil in order to do it! If Jesus had made this choice, I suspect His whole ministry would have unraveled. Not such a good idea after all!

The devil seemed to be offering Jesus the best of both worlds. And isn’t that what temptation is often about? What about someone who wants to be a a follower of Christ, but rationalizes that a little dishonesty to get ahead in their business won’t really hurt. We live in a world where the best of both worlds is often encouraged, many times to the point of spiritual crisis. God simply wants us to make a good spiritual choice, which may involve giving up that alluring “other world.”

Sure, there are areas of life in which we can do several things at once, and, in a way enjoy the best of both worlds. But, will the added activity truly fit in our lives, or instead be a distraction from better things we could be doing? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

For example, about eight years ago I really wanted to move to Tampa Bay, Florida. Now, though, I can only thank God that I never did! My spouse Dan and I would have missed so many great blessings that God has given us here in Indianapolis, including the unique ministry of our church. Even though I’m sure there are some wonderful churches in Tampa Bay, I believe this is where God wants us to be. Back when I wanted to move, I didn’t see it as a temptation at all. Now, though, I think maybe it was! At this point in our lives, there are many things more important than living somewhere that has nice winters!

Of course, there have been times when I’ve made wrong decisions and paid the price. If you have done this, and feel bad about it, just thank God that we are loved, in spite of any wrong choices we’ve made. And thank God for each new day!

Thought for the day: Lord, when its time to make a decision, help me choose the path You know is best. Help me see which way is right, even though I see through a mirror dimly.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Julie Walsh):

Do you know the feeling of turning on someone in an instant?

Nestled into my most comfortable chair one afternoon, I was drawn into a message being preached by a televangelist. I was fully engaged in his words, nodding in agreement and saying “Amen.” I believed his words to be thoughtful and spirit-filled.

But in the blink of an eye, he touched on a subject that was fundamentally opposed to what I believed. My first reaction was to disregard everything I had heard him speak about and to add him to my list of “religious adversaries.” After all, I was offended! How dare he string me along with his uplifting gospel message then squash my hopes with this rhetoric!

And so it was with those in the temple listening to Jesus. In the previous verses, the people in the congregation “all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” But as quickly as they received him, they were just as quick to turn against him. As the story continues we find that “all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.” Now that is severe! Imagine the emotional wave that moved them from awe and inspiration to a deep rage intense enough to kill!

What drives us away so fast?

My televangelist was back on topic and after further examination and proper perspective I remembered that this preacher did have many valid spiritual points. It really wouldn’t be fair to throw out the key messages I had received simply because we were in disagreement elsewhere. In fact, there were other options before me. I could pray for this man because I honestly believed he was simply a victim of misinformation. And while I prayed for him, I could also ask God to impart wisdom and truth to me because I’m sure there are plenty of areas in which I have been misinformed as well.

We don’t have to let our pride stand in the way of receiving God’s Word. And we don’t have to harbor any grudges when people don’t live up to our own ideals or expectations.

Thought for the day: Be alert! Be receptive! Be bold!

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Theresa Benson):

Back in Jesus’ day, Rabbis typically taught and resolved disputes in a way similar to how lawyers in America do things today. They would cite precedence in the Law for how something should be decided or carried out. In our legal system, there are volumes and volumes of cases that lawyers, legal assistants and paralegals will study, piecing together an argument: since Jones v Smith said this, and Benson v Simpson said that, this ruling should go down this way.

The idea is that rather than having lawyers and judges across the country making fickle and inconsistent rulings, all should follow precedent and extend their decisions logically from previous decisions, at which point, this new judgment now gets put on the books and can be used as precedent, too.

It’s almost like they abrogate their authority to past decisions: “Hey, things were decided this way in that case, so it’s not really me deciding this, it’s the way precedent is.”

But not Jesus.

He wasn’t claiming that “in a recent synagogue poll, four out of five rabbis thought [He] had the best message.” He was not quoting this teacher and that rabbi before Him as reasons why the people should listen to him. He wasn’t poring over the texts to resolve contradictory decisions; he was speaking from what he knew was right and good, and people could see a difference.

He was in there speaking His truth, because He and Truth are one and the same.

There is a profound simplicity and beauty to be found in messages from people who teach as Jesus taught. There’s a confidence and safety in knowing that when this person speaks, he or she is not flipping through notes, making sure to cite the right ‘backup knowledge’ in order to make things sound more profound, believable or sellable.

Take for example Gandhi’s message, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Or Mother Teresa’s, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

They, too, were speaking their truth.

Thought for the day: Jesus taught in a way no rabbi before him taught — with authority — and he drew many to him. May we strive to live in a way reflective of Jesus’ style of teaching — with a greater Truth guiding our steps and our words so we, too, may confidently draw many to a life of hope and joy.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.