READING:
One-year plan: Leviticus 21-23, Mark 2:23-3:35
Two-year plan: Exodus 6:28-8:15, Matthew 17:14-27
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Jesus called His disciples after a full night of prayer. When He did call them, He called them to be with Him, to preach, and to cast out demons. If I were one of Jesus’ first disciples, I think I would have been tempted to focus on preaching and casting out demons—tasks that show God’s power and authority. They’re also “cool” stuff for a minister of the gospel to do. We who are called are privileged to proclaim the Word, and casting out demons is a display of power that would attract even the newest pastoral leader. How easy it would be to emphasize them while ignoring or neglecting what Jesus first called the disciples to do: to be with Him.
If we are going to make a difference in our work, however, our efforts must come out of our time with Jesus. It ought to be that others look at us and recognize our having been with Jesus—even if we are untrained and uneducated (Acts 4:13). We are to be His disciples first before we are His spokespersons; after all, as one writer put it, “Discipleship is a relationship before it is a task, a ‘who’ before a ‘what.’”* The “who” we follow really does matter.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Have you typically been with Jesus before you serve others?
PRAYER: “God, help me not to leap over being with Jesus in order to do ministry now.”
TOMORROW’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Leviticus 24-25, Mark 4:1-29
Two-year plan: Exodus 8:16-9:35, Matthew 18:1-20
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* Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 113). Eerdmans; Apollos.
