[APRIL 17] God Needs You!

Read: Mark 11:1-7

"If anyone says to you, "Why are you doing this? say, "The Lord has need of it."

--Mark 11:3

For His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus chose a donkey to serve as His royal transportation. His Disciples were instructed to say, "The Lord has need of it" (Mark 11:3). Isn't it astounding that the Son of God should use such lowly means to accomplish His purposes? Alexander MacLaren commented on this: "Christ comes to us in like fashion, and brushes aside all our convenient excuses. He says, 'I want you, and that is enough.' "

Think of it! The Creator of the universe needs us and desires to fit us into His eternal design! Though all powerful and not dependent on any creature, He has chosen to carry out His plans through lowly human instruments. If this were not so, He would have taken us to heaven as soon as He saved us by His grace.

Someone once asked Francis of Assisi how he was able to accomplish so much. He replied, "This may be why: The Lord looked down from heaven and said, 'Where can I find the weakest, littlest man on earth?' Then He saw me and said, 'I've found him. I will work through him, and he won't be proud of it. He'll see that I am only using him because of his insignificance.' "

You may be small in your own eyes, but God has need of you! --Paul Van Gorder

Yours is a mission you alone can fill,

Whether it be to build or teach or till;

Your goal may still be hidden from your view,

But somewhere God has urgent need of you. --Thayer

REFLECT ON THIS:

God is looking for ordinary people for extraordinary work.

[APRIL 1] To Speak or not to Speak

Read: Mark 14:53-65

"[Jesus] kept silent and answered nothing."

--Mark 14:61

Sometimes silence is the best response to a false charge. At other times we must speak up.

When false witnesses accused Jesus as He stood before the Sanhedrin, He "kept silent" (Mark 14:53-61). Defending Himself would have been useless. Furthermore, He was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7. But earlier in His ministry, Jesus rebuked the Pharises, challenging them to prove that He sinned (John 8:13-59).

A pastor resigned from his church because a few members made untrue statements about him. He thought it unchristian to defend himself, and in some instances it is. But in this case, the troublemakers needed to be confronted and their false charges refuted. He should have urged them to repent or face church discipline.

Saying nothing may allow wrongdoers to go unchallenged in their evil ways. But if God's Spirit leads us to remain silent, or if we want merely to try to salvage our wounded pride, then we should hold our tongue.

Are you being falsely accused? If you discern that it's futile to argue, or if your pride has been hurt, ask God for grace to say nothing. but if you feel concern for the wrongdoers and want to see justice done, speak up! --Herb Vander Lugt

Lord, give us wisdom to discern

When what is false must be revealed

Or if we need Your grace and strength

To close our lips and keep them sealed. --D. De Haan

REFLECT ON THIS:

Silence can be valuable; don't break it unless you can improve on it.

[FEBRUARY 28] The Country of Old Age

Read: Mark 7:1-13

 

"If anyone does not provide for his own,... [he] is worse than an unbeliever" 

--1 Timothy 5:8

In the book Another Country, author Mary Pipher met with people in their seventies, eighties, and nineties who were confronting many different life situations.

“I wanted... to understand the country of old age,” Pipher writes. “We are not organized in a way that makes aging easy.” The root problem, she observed, is that young and old have become segregated, to the detriment of both groups.

This social trend is not necessarily intentional. But many people do ignore and shirk their responsibilities for the elderly. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees found creative ways to avoid their family duties. In Mark 7:9-13, Jesus rebuked their common practice of dedicating their material possessions to God (declaring them as Corban) rather than using their assets to provide for their parents. Their tradition had violated the commandment to honor their father and their mother.

Our children, work, and church activities can pull us in many directions. But that doesn’t excuse us from honoring our aging parents by making provision for their needs, as much as we are able (1 Tim. 5:8). When the time comes for us to enter the country of old age, let’s hope we’ve set the right example for our own children to follow. --Dennis Fisher

Proving for our parents' needs
With loving words and selfless deeds
Is what the Lord expects of those
Who try to follow where He leads.

REFLECT ON THIS:
Honoring our parents is learned by example.