Instagram Jesus Week 4: Devotional Day 4
DAY 4 – Thursday
Daily devotional
Read
Mark 1:11; Romans 8:14-17
Ask
Jesus is commissioned for service by the voice from heaven. When have you experienced a sense of calling or commissioning? If you felt it was from God, how did you know his voice?
Reflect
My son’s name is Reed. Well, that’s what we call him, but actually his full name is Michael Reed. For a variety of reasons, we decided to call him by his middle name. But Reed is at the age (of three), where it has become appropriate to sometimes address him by his full name. Unfortunately, that’s usually in a stern tone of voice when he’s not responding to just plain old “Reed.” Barking “Michael Reed” at him when he’s in a rebellious mood is surprising effective! Somehow, he knows that when we address him with his full name, we mean business.
So it’s telling that when the Father addresses his Son in Mark 1:10, there is no hint of reprimand or sternness. Instead, the words practically ooze with pride and love. There is a closeness there that is reminiscent of the best earthly familial relationships we have the privilege of witnessing. Later in Mark 9:7, the Father speaks to the Son in the hearing of others and says, “This is my beloved son; listen to him.” This tells us that not only are the Father and Son close, but what the Son says the Father agrees with. Which effectively makes the Father-Son conversation in Mark 1 a commissioning. “I love you, I trust you, Son.” And then what is implied: “Go for me.” Because of their closeness, the Son represents the Father.
My own father passed away shortly before my teenage years began, so this passage resonates with me emotionally. We all yearn for a Father like this, who will speak words of love, yes, but who will also impart purpose. I’m grateful to have overheard this conversation between the Son and Father in Mark 1, but I’m especially grateful for the words of Romans 8 which say that I have been received into the family of God. I am a son too, and the same love and purpose that the Father imparts on Jesus has been imparted on me. And on you.