Mark Devotions

Go To Mark 2:23-28

[Please do read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Sabbath keeping was/is an integral part of the Jewish faith. It was a day that was to be set apart for God, mandated by Old Testament Law, and the orthodox Jew insisted on keeping it. Unfortunately we in the Christian world have lost the meaning of the Sabbath, much like the religious orthodox had during Jesus’ time. Jesus was reminding them (and us) that it’s not about things that you should do or should not do on this special day. That was not why God ordained Sabbath for His people. God “gifted” us with the Sabbath (or “set apart”/ “special”/ “Holy” day) so that we could use opportunities that Day provides to draw closer to him, for him to restore us, refresh us. We should want to use the Day to fulfill the desire to grow in our experience of a loving God in every way possible – worship, study, prayer, family-building, neighbor-loving… Do we use our Sundays that way?

Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for a Day when I can focus exclusively on you. I know you take pleasure when I worship you with others in your house, and forgive me when I neglect to do so. But you also want me to take the Day to experience you in my family, with those you have put in my life. You want me to find ways to focus on you so much that your love spills out in everything that I do that Day. Maybe then I will learn to experience you more and more the rest of the week as well. Teach me to desire you more than anything else. Amen.

Song: Listen to Song