Mark Reading Plan – W1D1
Week 1 | Day 1 | Mark 1:1-8
Pray
Pause and breathe for a minute. Then ask God to open your eyes and your ears to his Word
Bible Reading (read these verses three times slowly)
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”—
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’
Reflection & Questions
If any book is worth giving our full attention to, it would be one about the Son of God. That topic should raise our curiosity and drive us to read it with great attention. Right away, Mark boldly claims his book is: “the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.”
Jesus means “he saves”, Messiah means “God’s King”, and Son of God means this isn’t any normal man – he’s divine. Those are amazing titles.
Mark then gives two testimonies to this claim. He quotes the Old Testament, telling us that the one who was promised (“the Lord”) has come. And John the Baptist testifies that this man is “more powerful than I… he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark is throwing a lot at us in these few sentences that begin his book. In doing so, he’s challenging us…I’m claiming that Jesus is the Son of God, will you listen to what I’ve got to say?
- What in these first eight verses intrigues you or amazes you about Jesus?
- We believe you become what you commit to. What’s your commitment on when to do these readings each day? How will you come with an open heart?
Pray
Talk to God about what you heard in His word. Talk about things you are thankful for, things you’re amazed by, things you need to confess or things you need to ask for.
Worship Song
Each day we will have a worship video you can choose to use as part of your time with Jesus. Today’s song is My Jesus by Anne Wilson.
Bible Reading
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”—
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Reflection & Questions
Have you ever known that something was coming, and you couldn’t wait for it to happen? Maybe your family has been planning a vacation for the past few months, and every day you wake up and know that you’re just ONE day closer to getting to go on that awesome trip? Or maybe you have the championship game happening at the end of the week, and every day after school you practice as hard as you can, because you know that you only have a few more days until the big game! Or what about the last day of school? I bet you have that day marked on your calendar the very first day of school, don’t you? All of these things are things that we are SO excited about, and we can’t WAIT for them to come! Well at the start of the book of Mark, that’s sort of what’s happening. A long time ago, God told the world that He would send down His Son, someone who would save the world from all of its sin. Do you know who that was? It was Jesus! And the start of Mark 1 tells us that the one we’ve been waiting for is here! The one that God promised us! I think that means that what we learn about Jesus in the rest of this book in the Bible is going to be pretty important, don’t you?
- What is a big day or a big event coming up that you’ve been excited for?
- How do you think people would have felt once they realized that Jesus, the one they had been waiting for, was actually here on Earth?
- The verses talk about a guy named John, who was getting everything ready for Jesus to come. How do you think John felt about being the one whose job it was to prepare the way for Jesus?
Prayer
Pray about reading this Bible plan every day! Ask God to help you learn from reading the Bible every day, and for you to be able to understand what He is saying to you through it.
Bible Reading
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”—
“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Devo Focus
Mark 1:4 “And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
Question
Do you ever get distracted?
There’s lots of things that distract us today. The distraction could be a worry about getting our grades up so that we don’t get our phone taken away. The distraction could be about how a friend has been spreading rumors about us and we are scared that people might believe them.
In all of those distractions there is one thing that can get us focused better then anything, Jesus. If anything is worth giving our full attention to in the midst of distractions it’s Jesus.
In Mark 1:1-8 before people really knew who Jesus was, John the Baptist was telling people that someone is coming who is going to be a savior, He’s going to be the Son of God, and he will be a leader that everyone wants to follow. What he’s saying is, “FOCUS UP” this is a big deal. Why? Because He was going to give them something they need more then anything, something that was going to focus their life like a new pair of glasses focuses our eye sight. This Messiah was going to offer them a way of forgiveness that was not earned. A forgiveness that would put us in right relationship with God. That’s worth not getting distracted about. That’s worth our whole focus…
How about you?
- What’s distracting you today? Talk to God about it.
- What in this passage surprises you about John?
- How can you commit this year to not being distracted and instead being focused on God?
- Remember when distracted, remember, nothing gets us more focused than Jesus.
