Thoughts on Mark 8:14-21

You were still musing over the exchange you had just finished with the Pharisees. And the disciples were worried about what they were going to eat. Your tone of voice sounds a bit snippy here, Jesus. Is it? Or am I projecting onto you what I expect to hear? Impatience, Irritation. hmm.

How often do I miss the chance to learn the deeper things of the spirit because I am consumed with the temporary, the workaday worries of this life?

Why do you spend so much mental energy thinking about what you’re going to eat? How you’re going to pay your bills? Have you ever gone hungry? Remember the time I gave you the down payment for your house? When I arranged to have your car fixed when you had no cash for it? Don’t sweat the small stuff. Focus on the big picture. Get it?

Once again, Jesus, with you in the boat is where transformation takes place. You speak of profound spiritual truths and I fuss over what I’m going to eat for lunch. My assumption of your angry dismissal of me comes to the surface and I must dive beneath it. My life stance as being the source of impatience is now the “bread” I’m worrying over, it’s a distraction that pulls me away from hearing your truth. (Debby, take your eyes off yourself and listen to Jesus, he’s telling you something very important.) You are warning me about how something useful and good when used properly (leaven) can go bad and be harmful when not. What is the useful and good that I need to be cautious about? I’ll sit with you in the boat for a minute around that.

My time. It is one thing I have plenty of. Do I use it wisely or let it rot and spoil?

What about you? What good and useful thing in your life is Jesus warning you about?