Daily Devotion March 5

March 5: Mark 8:34-38

KJV Key Verse: Mark 8:34
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Devotion:
Have you ever wondered what it must be like to pick up a cross and carry it knowing that it is the one thing that will kill you? The amazing thing is that we go through our lives doing things that may well kill us and we don’t think twice about them – instead we look at some of them as if they are high points in our lives. Christ was under no illusions about what it would be like having to pay the price for our sins and yet He still chose to continue onward and forward.

We don’t have to face anything like what Christ went through and yet when the going gets tough we collapse in a heap and even run the other way! We are given a warning here by Jesus that there are going to be some things in our life that we have got to face up to because they will not go away. He is also giving us the good news that he will take notice of these situations and will not ignore them when we face them for His sake or for the sake of His Word.

What good would it be if we lived a very comfortable life because we have enough money to buy all the luxuries we wanted if we would end up losing it all when we died? We cannot take those riches with us when we die, so why try to build them up now? We need to make sure we face people with the truth and not with some glossed over story that we make up to please ourselves while we live on earth!

Would you really pick an easy life if you knew for certain that you would live a terrible existence after your mortal body dies? There is always going to be doubt in our minds about life after death because it is not something we see and experience until we die! But the more we trust Christ, His Word and accept that things may happen to us that we don’t like, the more our faith will grow and the more willing we will be to stick with God all the way. It may not be easy all the way but it will be well worth it!

Points to Ponder:
Do you look for physical comforts?

Or do you look to God?