Daily Devotions
Mark
Day 33
Text: Mark 1 "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober..." 1 Peter 1:13
A TERRIFIC SENSE OF PURPOSE
Jesus understood His Disciples well. He was committed to help them to become fishers of men. Fishermen must know that to do good fishing, they must go to where the fishes are.
The ministries in the synagogue and in the home of Simon Peter were good and important, but they hardly constituted the whole of what God had sent Him to do. Jesus knew His Father’s Mission for Him. This He revealed to His Disciples.
“But He said to them, ‘Let us go into the next towns,
that I may preach there also, because for this purpose
I have come forth.”MARK 1:38
1. A Limited Vision
The Disciples would have been contented to see their little home town become a major centre of the Messiah. Many had already taken the trouble to come from far and wide to seek out Jesus. Surely that was good enough!
2. Broadening the Vision
The Disciples must have been surprised to hear what Jesus said.
a) The next towns
There were many towns in the vicinity. Was Jesus planning to visit all these towns? That would be most challenging!
b) A preaching ministry
What would they do when they visited these towns? Jesus told them that He would also preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to them also. The Disciples must have understood then, that “the next towns” did not merely mean the neighbouring cities. Jesus was committing Himself to reach the whole of Israel! This was His vision. What a staggering thought that was!
3. A powerful driving force
As the Disciples listened to Jesus, they must have hard more than His words. They must have felt the tremendous sense of purpose in His voice. This sense of purpose was His driving force.
4. Jesus’ life task
The Disciples never met anyone who had such a sense of his task in life, until they met Jesus. He spoke of His purpose as one that was derived from a Source outside Himself. He spoke of being “sent forth”.
There could only be One Person who could have inspired such a sense of Vision and Purpose. The Disciples must have stood in awe that day as they listened to Jesus. Such Vision and Purpose bring inspiration to the soul!