Week 9 | Day 4 | Mark 9:36-41
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)
He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.
Reflection & Questions
Following yesterday’s reading, Jesus makes a beautiful visual illustration. He takes a child in His arms. Maybe He even tickled her (or him) and threw her up on His shoulders! His message? Forget about rank, prominence or greatness. Look out for the needs of those around you, even the little ones.
It is in doing that, we will be serving Jesus Himself – for His heart is for people. Mother Theresa said, “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself this is Hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. He has leprosy or gangrene. I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.” Jesus wants us to have His eyes, to serve like He served.
- Do you share Jesus’ heart for the lowly? Why or why not?
- Do you see serving others as serving Jesus himself? How do you know?
Pray
Ask God to give you eyes to see people as He sees them today.
Worship Song
In response to today’s reading, you could worship our awesome God with this song:
Bible Reading
He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.
Reflection and Questions
After yesterday’s reading, Jesus makes a beautiful picture with His story. He takes a child in His arms. Maybe He even tickled her (or him) and threw her up on His shoulders! And what was He trying to tell the disciples when He did this? Forget about rank, importance, or greatness. Look out for the needs of those around you, even the little ones.
When we do that, when we focus on the needs of others, we will be serving Jesus Himself – because Jesus loves them! One of the most famous people to serve others for their entire life was a person named Mother Theresa. Mother Theresa once said, “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself this is Hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. He has leprosy or gangrene. I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.” Jesus wants us to have His eyes, to serve like He served. Jesus loves and serves everyone, so we should too.
- Who have you served recently?
- How can we pay more attention to looking out for people who we can serve?
Prayer
Ask God to help you see people who need help, and for the courage to help them.
Bible Reading
He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.
Devo Focus
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” Vs. 37
Devo
Anyone have a little brother or sister? Sure, they can be annoying, but Jesus has a valuable lesson to teach in regards to how we treat those annoying siblings as well as others who cross our paths.
Following yesterday’s reading, Jesus makes a beautiful visual illustration. He takes a child in His arms. Maybe He even tickled her (or him) and threw her up on His shoulders! His message? Forget about rank, prominence or greatness. Look out for the needs of those around you, even the little ones.
It is in doing that, we will be serving Jesus Himself – for His heart is for people. Mother Theresa said, “I see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself this is Hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is sick Jesus. He has leprosy or gangrene. I must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus.” Jesus wants us to have His eyes, to serve like He served.
- Do you share Jesus’ heart for the lowly? Why or why not?
- Do you see serving others as serving Jesus himself? How do you know?
Prayer
Ask God to give you eyes to see people as He sees them today.
