MARK DEVOTIONS
[Please do read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]
Jesus is not doing away with fasting. In fact, he says that there will come a time when fasting will be needed. However important is the oft neglected Spiritual Discipline of fasting, Jesus is really talking about something else. With Jesus coming into the world people no longer need depend on ritualistic actions in trying to come closer to God. With Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God before us now, the question is, “Do I want to relate to him personally, directly, as MY Savior and Lord? Or do I still want to rely in doing the same thing over and over again with little meaning, and more out of habit? Things like ‘giving my dues’, or giving my attendance at worship at regular intervals, or doing a sacrificial deed now and then.” Jesus has provided a new and direct way (Hebrews 10:20) to know God, which makes doing all the above meaningful only after we’ve given ourselves completely to Him, and not the other way around.
Prayer: Forgive me Lord, when I think that whatever I do will win favor with you, however “spiritual” they may look. I realize that all you really want is for me to accept your grace (undeserved love) in faith and grow in an ever deepening relationship with you. Then everything I do will come out of that love relationship. Isn’t that what pleases you most, Jesus? So here I am: “break me, melt me, mold me, fill me…and use me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.” Amen.
