No Grey Zone

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

NO GRAY ZONE

Mark 8:34-38

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." 

NIV

Having picked up our cross, with the old self, being crucified upon it, we should also consider the rest of what we are supposed to be doing. Because we have that cross we have lost that old self in order to live a life that is saved by the gospel. However, we still live in this world and are in some sense subject to its rules. This does not mean its ideologies or its practices, but these rules are about our physical placement. That is we have a need for a home, of whatsoever type or size that is. We have the need for a vehicle of whatsoever type and size that is. We have the need for clothing of whatsoever type or style and size that is. We have the need for food and other such soft goods. How we procure these various needs is usually through some type of occupation, of whatsoever type and size compensation we receive for whatsoever type of our labor we perform. We have certain wants beyond those, what might be considered our basic needs. The question which Jesus is posing here is how much time we spend on those needs, both the basic and those of our wants, our desires to have the things this world has to offer. That is to say, there has to be some difference in needing a good reliable vehicle to get to work, and having the most luxuries one, or two or more, just because we can afford them. How large of a home do we need to live comfortably in? How many toys do we really need? This line of thinking could go on and on regarding so many of the things in this world and the way we live. So the question is about how much of this world are we trying to gain, without losing our soul? Can we effectively do both, follow after the things of the world and follow after Jesus? Do we grab all we can by living by the rules of the world and say we have it because of the blessings of God? This is not to say we cannot have some amount of wealth, as the Lord may well provide more to some than others for His plans in putting us within a certain setting so we can have influence in that setting, while others have less wealth in order to have influence in that setting. It is still about living according to the Lord's plans instead of ours, and this is where our contentment must be, because without that contentment, envy, jealously, greed and such all come into play.  It would seem this is a fine line between the two, but just on which side of the line do we live is the question we must ask ourselves. We need to make sure we are not trying to deceive ourselves, but have an honest internal discussion with the Spirit. Jesus was very clear about us seeking his kingdom first and foremost and he would see to it that all these things would be added upon to us. That is to say that the Lord knows that we need to has certain things to live in the world, and he will provide them as he sees fit. This is about being content in Jesus, rather than pursuing and finding our contentment in the things of the world, which by its rules is never achieved, for its rules work in the premise that we always need more, bigger and better, stuff. So there is no both here, it is either one or the other, as Jesus put it, we cannot serve two masters, God and money, or the principles of God or the principles of this world. This has to be one of those areas where there is no grey zone, it is either black or white.