Daily Devotional--10/5/2010

We're a week behind in our study of other religions, so the daily devotionals I'm receiving via email that I normally post are a little out of sync with our Sunday morning lessons. So this week, I'm going to try a little something different to allow us to catch up to the devotionals.

This week I'll let God select a few verses each day that I open the Bible to and write a little about what those verses mean to me. Now I'm no Biblical scholar, and this is the first time I've ever tried something like this. So please feel free to offer criticism, or your own interpretation of these verses in the comments.

Mark 6:1-3

¹Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. ²When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! ³Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

We as Christians are always called upon to witness and spread the good news that Jesus Christ died so we could have eternal life. Most opportunities to witness appear right in our own back yards, among family, friends, and neighbors who've known us all our lives. They know where we came from, they know what our families are like, and perhaps most significantly they know what we were like before and after we became Christians.

Sometimes, our witness is damaged by our own reputation. I don't know about everyone else, but I've often avoided witnessing to people because I knew the things they knew about me. When I became a teacher, my sister was asked by an old high school acquaintance what I was up to these days. She told him I was a teacher and his response was, "John Allison ain't no teacher." He couldn't believe it because he knew me in school, he knew the way I behaved and it wasn't what you'd expect out of a future high school teacher. I can only imagine the number of people who knew me before I was saved who doubt the sincerity of my Christian beliefs.

It's hard to approach those who knew us in that other life, before we became messengers for Jesus, but He tasked us with spreading His promise. So we MUST go forth and spread the good news, even to those we suspect will "take offense" at us. Remember the words of Matthew 11:15.

¹⁵He who has ears, let him hear.

As long as we keep living for Christ, spreading His good news, even among those who know our past sins, people will be reached. Jesus gave us the model, and even He was rebuffed by those who knew Him in His younger days. Yet he went and preached among them, knowing they would turn away. He laid down His life so that we might live. And all He asks in return is that we believe in Him and spread the good news to others.


Jesus, thank you for sacrificing yourself so that we might live. We pray that you will give us the strength and fortitude to go forth and carry the news of your sacrifice to others, both strangers and our acquaintances. Help us to follow your model and to strive daily to live according to your will.

Amen