Friday 14 Jan 2022

January 14: Mark 2:1-12

Key Verse: Mark 2:9
Which is easier: to say to this paralysed man, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up, take your mat and walk”?

Devotion:
Wherever Jesus went, He caused quite a stir! It was not that He was looking for trouble or caused trouble deliberately, but He did step on the toes of the people who thought they should be in charge of things. When people get a sense of power they tend to try and hold onto it no matter what! This greed is not something we are born with but something we learn from the world around us!

The teachers of the law who were gathered here where Jesus was were not here to get healed or to be blessed, they were ere to try and discredit Jesus in some way so they could keep on ‘being in charge!’ They wanted to keep what power and control they had because they enjoyed it. It gave them a sense of belonging and a sense of power which was enticing to them.

When we are confronted by something which sows doubt in our life, we try to avoid it or even prove it wrong so we can be right. If we have built up our life on things which are doubtful in any way, we should expect to be proven wrong at some time; but we don’t, we cling to what we have and try to cast everything else into doubt so we can continue in our world.

Even when faced with a miracle which happened right in front of them, the teachers of the law wanted to keep the ‘law’ they had built up because they were in control of it. They did not want to accept the truth even when they were shown it. We need to make sure we are always open to the truth – not just any gossip but the truth as it is backed up by the bible and the Holy Spirit.

Points to Ponder:
Do you have control of something in your life?

Are you willing to give control to God?