Mark Reading Plan – W2D4
Week 2 | Day 4 | Mark 2:23-28
Check out all the previous readings here.
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)
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Reflection & Questions
Like in yesterday’s reading about fasting, Jesus is again ruffling the feathers of the religious. The religious had taken God’s gift of a day of rest (sabbath) and added to that a lot of rules of what was rest and what wasn’t. Ironically, the rest day had now become a day of slavery to rules. A day of connecting with God, had become a day of checking boxes of what to do and not do. Jesus was having none of this and sets the record straight: “Sabbath was made for man, not man for Sabbath.” Religion will always put rule-following above relationship. Checking the boxes over listening to the Spirit. The way of Jesus is a way of relationship. He wants far more than rule-following. He wants our hearts.
- Do you have a relationship with God?
- If you answered yes, have you been listening to the Spirit or checking the boxes? If you answered no and would like to begin a relationship with him, this article will guide you in just that.
Pray
Pray a prayer in response to your reading and reflection today. Take time to ask God questions and listen.
Worship Song
Praise God for his goodness today through this song:
Bible Reading
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Reflection & Questions
Do you remember what we read yesterday? We talked about fasting, and how people tried to use fasting to get God to love them more. Just like yesterday, Jesus is going to tell the religious leaders something new about what they had made up for themselves. The religious had taken something called ‘the sabbath’ and added a lot of rules of what was rest and what wasn’t. They tried to tell people that God only let them do certain things on their day of sabbath. Back then, the sabbath was one day a week where you were supposed to rest and refect on all that God had given to you and done for you. A day of worshiping God! But instead of that, the rest day had now become a day of slavery to rules made up by people in charge. Jesus knew all of this, and decided to tell them how the sabbath REALLY was supposed to be: “Sabbath was made for man, not man for Sabbath.” Remember, God cares WAY more about a relationship with you and me than He does about made up rules. Jesus came to teach us all about a relationship where God loves us, and we love God. Isn’t that so much better than a bunch of rules?
- Do you have a relationship with God? If yes, what are some of the ways you grow that relationship with Him? If no, is that something you want to start? Talk to your parents or a church leader about what that means!
Prayer
Pray and talk to God about your relationship with Him!
Bible Reading
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Devo Focus
Mark 2:27-28 “Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Question
Relax, sit back and don’t worry.
Seems nice doesn’t it, who doesn’t want a break from something. But what if that break, or rest came with a ton of rules about how far you were allowed to walk, the distance you were allowed to drive, and what you could or could not eat. And if you didn’t do these things you would be thrown out of your family and and you would lose your friends… Suddenly relaxing and has become filled with stress.
That’s exactly what it was like for the people of Israel in Jesus’ day. The religious leader known as the pharisees, took something good that God gave, like taking one day a week to rest and focus on Him, and they blew it up with a ton of rules that made the day off (known as the sabbath) to be stressful with a ton of RULES!
Jesus didn’t like that the Pharisees did this, and he called them out on it. Stop adding rules to a blessing, like the sabbath, that God gave you! They were adding rules to a good thing that God gave them. Rules that never needed to exist.
How about you?
- Do you add rules to God’s plan for you?
- When was the last time you were able to have a day to take some rest?
- How can you take little moments today to enjoy Jesus?
- What do you need to say no to, that will help you make taking a sabbath a priority?
