Mark: Journeying With JesusSýnishorn

In 2019, a report was produced for the UK Government which said,

“It is estimated that one third of the world’s population suffers from religious persecution in some form, with Christians being the most persecuted group.”

Following Jesus is a costly thing to do. It may cost us in our relationships, our careers, our comfort. In some parts of the world, it could cost you your life.

So isn’t there just too much to lose? Isn’t it too risky?

Isn’t Jesus asking too much?

Jesus never calls us to do something he has not first done. He never calls us to go somewhere he has not first gone. It is good news, and there is great joy in following Jesus.

Mark 8:34-36

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?”

Our hearts are a battleground. There are rivals who come in and capture our hearts.

Maybe it’s the approval of other people that we value ahead of Jesus.

Maybe it’s a relationship that we want to pursue, that goes against God’s will.

Maybe it’s a love of money or the security it seems to provide for us.

Jesus is saying that we can trust our whole lives, and even our deaths, into Jesus’ hands.

John 14:16-18

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will come to live “with you” and “in you”. He is powerful enough to set about changing our attitudes and our desires. The Spirit who comes to live in Christians is the Spirit of Christ himself. What is given up is nothing compared to what is gained.

PRAYER | Heavenly Father, help us to see your Son as our greatest treasure. Thank you because of his death on the cross, the way is now open for us to live life with you and for you. Amen.