Mark 8:27-38 (NRSV)
Read Mark 8:27-38 on biblegateway.com
Verse 31Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Verse 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
Verse 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."
Verse 34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Verse 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.
Verse 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
Verse 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?
Verse 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
Devotion
These Africans have no potable water, electricity or latrine. They live with animals in huts made of mud, cow dung and roofs of grass. Circumcision is for boys ... and for girls. Men wear colorful blankets and shoes crafted of tires as they tend cows and goats. Women stay in the boma, nurturing children, carrying wood and water, stringing beads. Dust and manure abound, flies an ever-present nuisance. So many children, so few resources.
How is it Neema was able to go to school against all odds? When did she first hear God’s call? How is it that God instilled in her such conviction of the living presence of Christ? How is it that her gentle witness speaks volumes? How is it that she witnesses not only to the opportunities of education, but the sureness of God’s transformation? It is a message of hope, a witness to the possibilities of God.
Prayer
Gracious God, it is and always will be a mystery to us, how you put the longing for your Spirit into your children, how you call us into your holy presence. Please put that longing in us. Please give us the sureness of faith in your Son, Jesus Christ. Transform us so that we too might live in the conviction of resurrection and give gentle witness to your renewing hope. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.