A Comparison

Scripture
Mark 6:55 "They ran"
Mark 9:15 "ran to greet him"
Mark 6:38 "How many loaves do you have", he asked, "Go see". When they found out, they said, "Five-and two fishes"

Observation

Reading today I was struck with what I do or would do today, versus what the Bible documents of old. On two different occasions people were running to get to Jesus. I have to ask myself, "When was the last time I thought about running to church because I couldn't wait to hear what the Word of the Lord?" If my car is not running, do I miss church because church is too far away, or do I walk/run for an hour or two because it is "good to be in the house of the Lord?" A group of 5,000 men with a total of probably over 10,000. The disciple went looking for bread and fish. What they found was that there was only five loaves into fish. Can you imagine there been 10,000 people, and only having five loaves of bread and fish among them. It would appear that all these people were so excited to see Jesus, that they left home without taking enough food for the journey. In contrast to how I prepare on a Sunday, I prepare my food and a large dinner and am thinking about what I want for lunch before I go to church. Not quite the same.

Application
So what is my application today? The reality is that I'm not going to run to church. The reality is that I probably will still plan of what I will eat for lunch on church day. But what my application is today has to do with my heart. My heart needs to be excited about hearing the word of the lord. My heart needs to know that it is more important for me to be in church than to plan my lunch. My heart needs to know that feeding it, and going to the church excited about what God has in store for me, should be the norm.

Prayer,
Father, I thank you for the reminder today about the importance of your word. I thank you for the reminder of how excited I should be in approaching your word and anytime I have a chance to go to church. People ran with excitement to see Jesus. I pray that my heart would continue to run to Jesus with the same amount of excitement as the people did back then. Amen.

Can IT Be Seen??

Scripture
Mark 2:5 "When Jesus saw their Faith"
Mark 5:34 "Your Faith has healed you"

Observation

It seems pretty clear that Faith is a Big deal or even THE WHOLE deal when Jesus takes a look at me. In these two cases Jesus SAW the person's Faith, and the VISIBLE Faith moved Jesus. So it makes me wonder if I have the kind of Faith the Jesus sees? Like Jesus said in a parable, is my Faith hidden under the bed? Or is it on the stand for all to see? Do I live by Faith, or is it just something I may fall back on when "I" need it.

Application
So I want Jesus to see my Faith, how is that going to happen? I am reminded of a verse in 2 Corinthians 5:7 "For we live by faith, not by sight". This life will show me many things, just like a football team showing different defenses all the time and then they switch to something different when the ball is snapped, so the enemy who wants to destroy me will try to make something look different than it really is...so that means I can't trust "my sight". I need to live by faith. How do I do that? In Hebrews 11:1 it says "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". So I will have faith and even more faith when I believe in things I can't see, yet I see believe that they will change. It is kind of a paradox, that I want my Faith to been seen by Jesus so I have to have the faith to change things that can't been seen. The bible also says to pray without ceasing....that is to more connected to our Heavenly Father than to the world. So if I pray without ceasing, read the love letter(the bible) that God has sent me to guide me and instruct me, have faith to change things that can't been seen, THEN my Faith will be seen.

Prayer
Father, I want to have the kind of Faith that you and Jesus can see. I open my soul up, so it can be infused with your word, and then Do What It Says(James 1:22). You are moved by Faith, Faith in Action not hidden, so help me display Faith so it will be seen by all so you will be glorified.