Get Back In The Game!

Read through the Gospels in a Year: Mark 14:43-52
Read the New Testament in a Year: Galatians 2
Everyone deserted him and fled.—Mark 14:50

The Bible includes many stories in which God’s people start out well but end up forsaking the way of life and truth.

Jesus calls twelve followers to be his disciples. They learn from him and follow his ways. They even go out two by two to spread the good-news message and do miracles. But in the end Judas betrays Jesus, Peter denies him, and all the other disciples flee and hide.

There are also some women who faithfully follow Jesus from Galilee. But when he is arrested, they too hide in fear. Jesus’ disciples and other followers all turn out to be discipleship failures.

If you read about the leaders of God’s people in the Old Testament, you find that King David began as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). But when he became powerful, he gave in to adultery and murder and lost his kingdom to Absalom (2 Samuel 11-15). David’s son Solomon began as the wisest king Israel ever had, but when he married women who worshiped other gods, his heart turned from God, and the kingdom split apart (1 Kings 3; 11-12)

The beauty of it all is that even when you do fail or don’t end the way you want, you can still get back in the game. These scared and fearful disciples would become fearless and turn the world upside down.