Daily Devotional for Wednesday, October 4

Jesus Is Patient

“And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?” Mark 8:21.

In the corporate world, sometimes bosses say things that seem cryptic to us. Occasionally, when they speak, the scramble immediately begins to decipher the hidden meaning behind what the boss has said. Sometimes there is a hidden meaning, sometimes words just are what they are. Either way, nobody wants to be the person who fails to understand. Nobody wants to get in trouble with the boss. 

Earlier in our devotional passage, Jesus had made what seemed like a cryptic remark about how the disciples needed to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. Rather than looking for the spiritual application of this statement, the disciples thought Jesus was mad because they had not brought bread into the ship with them on this trip. He reminded them of how He had fed the multitudes on two occasions. Looking back, it seems almost absurd to worry about Jesus being upset over bread when history clearly showed that was not a problem for our Lord! Jesus was addressing a spiritual problem, but all the disciples could think about was their next meal.

That is really not much different from us today. It is not uncommon 
in our local churches to overlook spiritual things and get fixated on 
temporal things. Bills must be paid, the building needs things fixed and so forth. It is clear those things are necessary, but it seems clear they ought not be the priority. Jesus has a long history of showing that, if we act on the spiritual things, He will provide the physical things. What is at the top of your list? Is it bread or is it souls?

JUST A THOUGHT: Jesus has proven again and again just who He is, and what He is capable of doing, yet we still live in doubt sometimes. 

Wally Fry