30 Days In The Gospel Of MarkSample

 Thought:

Following Jesus is costly. For Jesus, following God’s will for His life cost Him His life. He predicted it three times before it happened. Today, we read the first of those times. Jesus knew what was going to happen to Him when He went to Jerusalem. He loves us so much He kept going anyway. Following Jesus isn’t easy for us, either. We must be willing to take up our cross and follow Him. If we do, it will be more than worth it!

1. Who is the Son of Man? What did Jesus predict would happen to the Son of Man?

2. Why did Jesus rebuke Peter?

3. What does Jesus say people who want to follow Him must do?

4. What does it mean to take up your cross?

Engage:

To count the cost (Luke 14:28) means to sit down and think about what it will cost to build or do something to determine if it will be worth it. We should count the cost when we consider following Jesus. It will cost us a lot of hardship. We may be persecuted and we may suffer. We may lose friends. We may lose our lives like Jesus did. But following Jesus is absolutely worth it! The cost of following Him seems very small when compared to the reward. We get to be in relationship with God and He raises us to new life in Him. We will get to live for eternity with Him in perfection when Christ returns. Following Jesus may be hard sometimes, but it is worth it. Listen to “The Cost” by Rend Collective to remind yourself of this truth.

Deeper Waters:

Let’s talk theology! The cross and resurrection are important parts of the Christian faith, but why are they so important? It was necessary for Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price for our sins, because God tells us that the consequence of sin is death. Then, it was necessary for Jesus to rise from the dead (to be resurrected) because it showed that God had defeated sin, death, and evil. All who believe in Christ are raised to share in eternal life in Him!