God’s Point of View

Daily Readings: Psalm 69; 1 Corinthians 12:12-26; Mark 8:27-34

Mark 8:27 – Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”  ²⁸ “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”  ²⁹ Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”  ³⁰ But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

³¹ Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. ³² As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.  ³³ Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

³⁴ Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. (NLT)

In this passage we have three short stories, and they are all connected.  In the first story, Jesus is aware that the people were talking about him, so he asks his disciples what it was that they were saying.  He then asks them what they believed about Jesus, and Peter makes his profession of faith.  This is an important place for us to be in our spiritual lives – a place where we confess Jesus as our Savior.  It’s not, however, the end of our spiritual journey.

In the second story, Jesus shares with his disciples God’s plan.  Peter, having just made a profession of faith, takes issue with Jesus.  In essence, he had issues with God’s plan.  Do we ever have issues with God’s plan?  God’s plan is for us to be forgiving.  Do we ever have issues with that plan?  God’s plan is for us to be servants.  Do we ever have issues with that plan?  God’s plan is for us to be generous.  Do we ever have issues with that plan?  When we do, we are seeing things from a human point of view, and not God’s.

In the third story, Jesus ties it all together.  Taking up our cross is living life from God’s point of view, and giving up our own.  Is this always easy?  Certainly not, but with prayer and practice, we can move from our selfish human point of view to God’s selfless view.

Today, let’s do our best to turn from our selfish paths, and seek to walk along God’s selfless way!