Bible in a Year… Day 97 (Mark 7-8)

Back to the gospel of Mark today…

Mark 8:34-37 (NIV)
³⁴Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? ³⁷Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

I don’t know what you think, but it’s my viewpoint that this is one of the most difficult teachings of Jesus. Deny myself. Take up my cross. Follow Jesus. Be willing to lose my life for Him. Forget about the things of the world, because they can stand in the way of eternity.

Basically… put Jesus first in all things.

It’s anything but easy.

How do you, personally, implement these teachings? How do we go about developing a heart that’s so devoted to Jesus that we’re not only able, but willing to our own desires second? How do you keep yourself aware of where your heart truly lies, that you might refocus when you begin to stray from God’s will to your own?

Tough questions arising from a difficult teaching!