Community Devotions

Urgent versus Important

Mark 8:16-17, 20

16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?

20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”   They answered, “Seven.”

OBSERVATION

One’s mind is shaped and led by what he considers important and critical.  More often than not, everything begins to be looked upon through the lens of priority.  Jesus’ disciples mistook His comments regarding the Pharisees and Herod - warnings against the influence or pressure exerted by them - to mean that the disciples failed in logistics – poor load plans for not packing enough bread.  They had one loaf.  In their defense, Jesus’ disciples did have to contend with rudimentary tasks of food and water because someone had to acquire them.  In their days, being able to feed yourself and others was laborious.  But there is a difference between ensuring provisioning for basic necessities of daily care and feeding and being overly focused on daily tasks to the point where it consumes you.

The point that Jesus was making was especially critical because the conversation is taking place subsequent to the feeding of the four thousand by Jesus with seven loaves of bread.  Did the disciples not think that somehow Jesus wouldn’t be able to feed the thirteen of them with one loaf? 

Jesus asks us to focus on the important – God’s truth in life - and not on the urgent – what do we have to eat?  Our approach to life shows, then, that we trust in God for our provisions as well as life’s priorities.

APPLICATION

Be equipped with a lens of God’s priorities so that we can focus on the important, eternal issues of salvation, loving God and our family and neighbors.

PRAYER

Father God, I praise your name.  Your name is great.  Help me to see the important things in life, not the urgent.  Cleanse my heart so that I am able to hear and discern your voice and will.  Bless and protect Michael – would you guide his path in the Army.  Bless and protect Joshua as he strives to do well in school.  Watch over him during the Spring break.  Guide and pour joy in to Daniel.  Give peace and assurance to Christine.  

Look to the Cross

Numbers 21:7-9, “7 And the people came to Moses and said, “‘We have sinned, for we have spoken agains the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he will take away the serpent from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.” 

Sin costs and it cost severely. This bizarre incident where Israel sinned against God in the wilderness cost death. To symbolize the venomous bite of sin God sent snakes among the people causing many of them to die. God killed two birds with one stone through this bronze serpent: First there’s the immediate object lesson for Israel that sin kills and only by looking at God’s provision for sin can they be saved. It’s interesting that people requested sin i.e. the serpent to be taken away but God’s remedy was his provision for them to look at the symbol of sin. Second, Jesus himself refers to himself as the fulfillment of the bronze serpent in John 3:14-15, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”. 

We’ve all been bitten by the poisonous sting of sin. We sin by nature inherited from Adam and we sin by practice through our volition. Resistance is futile when it comes to the enslaving power of sin. It leaves me frustrated and in despair. God’s answer is to look at the cause of sin and His provision for it. Look at the cross. Believe. Have eternal life. Gaze at the cross. Fix my eyes at grace poured and love personified. Point of application:

 - Don’t take sin so lightly. Consider the severity of my sin i.e. it was my disobedience, rebellion, covetousness, etc., that nailed Christ at the cross. It should be me on that cross paying for the penalty of my sin. 

 - Fix my eyes on the cross. After considering the weight of sin, gaze upon God’s provision of mercy and grace at the cross. It’s undeserved. I can’t work or pay for it. It achieved God’s wrath on sin so that I can live a new life. I am justified. God will never count my sin against me. I am free and sinless before him. Live out the benefits of the cross with gratitude and confidence.

Heavenly Father,

I love you so much. Thank you for grace undeserved. Thank you for the cross. May your grace continue to uphold me and your spirit sustain me to fix my eyes on you. Would you continue to transform my heart and change my desire so that loving you and delighting in you would be my portion and strength? Please continue to lead and uphold Renee by your spirit as a Christ follower, wife, mother and worship leader. May you always be the good shepherd and father to Judah, Noah and Ezra. I pray that they grow to be men of God after your heart. I need your grace so that I can lead with your love. I love you. Maranatha.