Day two of the Questions for Mark study and I will again use one devotional question to inspire this devotional.

“How responsive are you to Jesus’ authority? Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any resistance in your heart.”

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

It is not enough to say Jesus is Lord. You have to accept His authority over your life. If He is truly Lord you do not have the right to say no or to refuse to do what is asked of you. This is a problem for many because we seek Jesus as a friend first and friends ask, they do not command.

John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

We have never been friends with God before and might not know how to act. Treating God as just another one of our friends is a poor vision of this verse. Jesus is telling us He is willing to share everything He has heard with us, not just the command. That is a special relationship but it should never lessen His Lordship over our lives.

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Obedience shifts from servitude to love. Jesus is asking you to obey because you love Him not merely because He is Lord.

1 Peter 1:22-23 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Mark 1:6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

Imagine if you would that you are a merchant in a caravan transporting your goods to Jerusalem and you encounter this nut job in the desert. Time is money and you don’t have time to stop and put your goods at risk. You do have a tale to tell to anyone who might listen about what you saw and could not understand. Why would anyone be preaching to the rocks?

Luke 19:39-40 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

The stones had to have heard the gospel in order to cry out.

Yes, I am trying to be funny but for any of you that were not brought up in a believing household, how did you come to hear the gospel of repentance first?

Here a day after our first Questions for Mark study this devotional question was asked. “How might you help prepare those around you to encounter Jesus? Ask God for an opportunity today.”

As in John’s day people are busy going about their worldly interests. There will be something that will peak their curiosity and it doesn’t have to be as drastic as John’s appearance and behavior. It does however have to present an opportunity which isn’t in line with their normal routine.

Romans 12:2a And be not conformed to this world:

It starts with not looking like everyone else. You should present an alternative look. Someone will notice and say; “You don’t see that every day!”