Devotion
Go preach the gospel!
David Jacobs
The book of Mark was written the shortest length of time from Jesus' death out of all the Gospels. The other Gospels are written with more style and flair, perhaps because they had heard the same stories as Mark but several decades later. The gospel of John, in particular, is filled with tales of the supernatural that are not written about at all in Mark. The gospel of Mark is perhaps the least cited and considered the least important of the gospels by many, but the no-frills attached writing style and seemingly more accurate depiction of Christ makes it my favorite.
In these verses, Christ commands the disciples to do two things: first, go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature. As we know based on the book of Acts and most of the books following the gospels, the disciples took this commandment to heart. Second, everyone that is baptized will be saved, and those that are not shall be damned. Christ may have meant that any person that is not literally baptized is damned, but I think that a more progressive interpretation is more appropriate.
Prayer
All that know of the gospels, and almost all should because the disciples went forth and spread the good news to all creatures, have a choice: to believe or not to believe. If they have heard the news and chose not to believe, they are refusing the baptism by the Holy Spirit. There is no supernatural element, no poetic prose, just the straight facts of the gospel of Mark. We should all appreciate his work. Thanks be to God.
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
