The Commission: A 4-Day Devotional With CAINSample

Day Three: Time-Sensitive Telling

Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

—Mark 16:15

“I have so much to do before I leave!” Have you ever said or thought those words? It happens when you’re leaving home for college, leaving for a work-related trip, leaving to move from one city to a new one, and even leaving for a vacation. Knowing you’re going away often motivates a to-do list and a sense of urgency to complete it. You need to take care of the things you’re responsible for, and you don’t want to leave those things untended or undone.

Jesus wants us to take that same view and urgency about spiritual things. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus urged His disciples to think about life from the macro level. They, like us, had a hard time seeing the bigger picture. They were prone to focus on whatever immediate, temporary circumstance was directly in view, letting that color their perspective of everything else. But the picture right in front of us doesn’t define the overall picture; it works the other way around. That’s why Jesus said things like, “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24), “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20), and “Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25). Life is, indeed, about more than those earthly pursuits. Consider the most macro truth Jesus gave us—every single person on earth desperately needs to know and trust in Him. That truth impacts everything else about us, everything we do.

Jesus left for a little while, but He’s coming back one day “to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him” (Hebrews 9:28). In the meantime, there is still much to do! Those who have received salvation in Christ have been commissioned to go tell the world about Him so that they might know Him, and live and wait with confidence, too. Will you determine to not leave your God-given responsibility untended or undone?

Reflection

· What part of sharing your faith scares you? How does focusing on the big picture change those fears?

· Make a list of places you will go in a week. Who are some people you see there? How can you be in prayer for those people? How can you live out Jesus' commission in those places?

· Thank Jesus for His promise to come back again. Acknowledge where His mission seems scary, and ask Him for strength and clarity to follow Him with boldness.