Today, I am reading and commenting on Mark 8-9.

When Jesus told the crowds (and His disciples) that anyone who wants to be His disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Him, they did not yet understand that He would die on a cross.  Even His disciples did not yet comprehend that He would die.  On the other hand, they had a much better understanding about the horrors of crucifixion than we do.  We need to understand what Jesus is saying here.  We need to be willing to suffer in order to follow Jesus.  An author of fiction whose books I enjoy had one of her characters create a paraphrase of what Jesus says about gaining the world and losing our soul which sheds light on what Jesus said here.  The character said, “There is no value in gaining your heart’s desire if you have to give up your heart in the process.”  While there is much more to what Jesus says here, that statement gave me new insight into the meaning of what Jesus says here.  If we are willing to do whatever it takes to get things, or to experience pleasure, we will allow that which makes us to be destroyed and we will become empty shells.  On the other hand, if we are willing to sacrifice everything we are in order to make the world a better place for others, we will become that which death cannot destroy.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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