"Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut; Sometimes I Don't"

Mark 8
I remember that old TV commercial for Almond Joy & Mounds candy bars. "Sometimes I feel like a nut; sometimes I don't." This chapter made me think of this passage. The disciples were amazed then they didn't get it; were amazed then they said something stupid; were amazed and then didn't get it.

More often than I would like to admit this describes my walk of faith. I see God doing amazing things but I fail to recognize it. Or I see God do something and then when I am faced with some difficult issue, I forget what God has done in the past. Worse still, there are times when I can have more faith than I ever imagined (like when Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah) and then turn around and act as though God was even around. To quote Paul, "Oh what a wretched man I am."

Yet reading this chapter was a bit encouraging. Even the disciples who literally walked with Jesus struggled to understand who and what He was. Why should I be surprised when I struggle to understand the implications of the Kingdom of God in today's world? But that is no excuse for laziness.

My favorite verse of this chapter has to be verse 34. It reminds me that if I want to follow Jesus I have to die to myself and allow Him to live through me. No small task.

Each day (and many times throughout the day) I have continuously give my life to Christ because gaining the whole world would be nice, but losing my soul is not worth it.

Maybe I should take a lesson from Peter. He was willing to speak his mind and simply be who he was - warts and all. I need to be that passionate and in so doing allow Jesus to shape that passion into what He needs it to be.

Under the Mercy,
Jason