October 12 | Decisions

The crowd following Jesus continues to swell. You likely marked both these characters on pages 31–32 in your journal. The people are coming from seemingly everywhere for some sort of healing. For many, they had to get there as it was the last chance for themselves or a loved one.

But Jesus does more than heal the sick and cast out demons. He calls everyone he meets to make a decision. It’s a decision about himself that has huge implications. The original audience of Mark’s gospel knew this better than anyone. Living in Rome, they experienced a growing hostility toward the Jesus-community. Aligning themselves with Jesus created significant divides in families and social networks. Living by different moral standards meant they were no longer invited to certain things like banquets for the Roman gods. Giving Jesus the authority to call the shots in their life led to decisions that others didn’t agree with or understand.

Choosing to follow Jesus will have implications for us also, and not all of them will be pleasant. Jesus impacts our social life when we give him authority in our life. Relationships will be affected, and plans will be altered. Not everyone will understand or be supportive when we begin to align our life with Jesus’s teachings.