Passage Read: Mark 7-8
Meditation Verses: 8:31-33
Thought
How natural it is to want to keep people we care for from suffering. Peter's heart was in the right place, from a human point of view, but the fact is that living for God in this world requires suffering and even death. Jesus rebuking Peter wasn't just for Peter, but for all of us, as Jesus goes on to apply it to everyone who follows Him. We need our own priorities adjusted. Living this life isn't about enjoying as much as we can get from it. It isn't about avoiding whatever suffering we possibly can. It's actually about sacrificing it for the advancement of God's kingdom! Suffering isn't something to be avoided, but actually something necessary. We should be giving up our lives for Jesus and for His Gospel. This isn't a truth just for a chosen few, but for everyone who wants to follow Jesus!
Application
There is nothing nice about suffering, but there is something eternally valuable in suffering for the right things. My concern should not be to protect my life or the lives of others, to keep us from suffering because of Jesus, but to encourage each other to accept suffering for Jesus as a good and normal--even necessary--part of the Christian life! Human compassion that wants to protect people from suffering is actually more in line with Satan's interests than God's! I need my worldview turned upside-down like this, and I need to encourage others to make the same adjustment.