Saturday Feb the 5th
Called In Community
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Bible Passage Mark chapter 1
Key Verses for today are 16-18
Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
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THOUGHTS FROM TODAY’S SCRIPTURES:
The modern media’s portrayal of the “lone wolf” seems to be growing more and more popular. From movies where the hero is mowing down hundreds of bad guys by himself, to books about “maverick” politicians standing against the grain and defying the status quo, it would seem as if we love a standalone hero. But how realistic a notion is this one man versus the world mentality? And have we tried to adopt this model into our spiritual walk?
Even a cursory examination of Jesus’ first interactions with his disciples should be sufficient for the realization that we were never intended to go it alone. In fact, if we take it way back, what was the first thing after creation that God said was “not good”? For man to be alone (Genesis 2:18)! We were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), and our God actually exists in community.
Three persons in one being, and we affectionately define that truth as the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 John 5:7-8; John 1). So if we are his image bearers, is it a hard leap to think that maybe we were intended for community as well? Not at all!
And surely Jesus’ calling of Simon and Andrew is a great example of that intention. He didn’t call Simon, and then later come back for Andrew, but rather called them together, in community with himself. God has not called us to “go it alone”, and for us to aspire or attempt to do so is both foolish, and counter to the Gospel! We are one body, with many parts (1 Corinthians 12:20).
Do you constantly shy from community in favor of “going it alone”? Is this mentality birthed from your pride, and the idea that you are sufficient?
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Sunday Feb. the 6th
Help From the Sanctuary
Read from God’s Word: Psalm 20
The key verse for today is 2
May He send you help from the sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion.
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THOUGHTS FROM TODAY’S SCRIPTURES:
That is wonderful—help from the sanctuary! The sanctuary is always a picture of the place where we meet with God. In Israel it was the temple, the place where the Israelites came to get their thoughts straightened out, to get their thinking corrected. There they met with God, and there they heard the Word of God, the mind and thoughts of God.
In Psalm 73 the psalmist is deeply troubled by the prosperity of the wicked, that perennial problem that can still bother us: Why do the ungodly prosper while the righteous seem to be downtrodden all the time? This had upset him—until he finally went into the sanctuary. There he began to perceive their end. There he began to see the whole story; he began to see the full picture, and his thoughts were corrected. This is what the sanctuary does.
For us the sanctuary is the Scriptures. There is where we get help. It is there that our minds are illuminated, that we begin to see the world the way it is, not the way it appears to be. There is not one of us who has not already learned that life is not the way it seems to be, that what looks to be the answer and what we are convinced at first is the way things are often turns out to be exactly the opposite.
Life is filled with illusion, with deceit; things are not what they appear to be. Doesn't your heart cry for somebody to tell you the truth, to tell you the way things really are, to open your eyes to what is going on? That is what the Bible does. And unless you are in the Scriptures, there is no help. May you find help in the sanctuary, in the Scriptures, in the psalmist's prayer, may you be enlightened and might you have a clear understanding.
Help from the sanctuary and support from Zion. Zion is another name for Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom. In the Scriptures it stands as a symbol of the invisible kingdom of God with which we are surrounded, made up of ministering angels sent forth to serve those who are to be the heirs of salvation. In other words, all the invisible help that God can give you in the day of trouble, in the hour of pressure, is made available by prayer.
Remember that in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus was praying and sweating drops of blood in the height of His agony, an angel appeared and ministered to Him and strengthened Him. That angel was made visible to Him in order that we might be taught a lesson of what happens when we pray. I have gone into prayer depressed and defeated, but while I have prayed I have felt my spirits caught up, changed, and strengthened. I came out calm, at rest, and at peace. Why? I receive my help from Zion.
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PRAYER: Lord, there are far too many places I turn in times of trouble. Teach me to turn to your sanctuary for the help that I need.
Life Application: Where do we turn when our hearts are troubled and our minds confused by all that is happening in our world? Where is a place of quiet confidence and rest?
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