Read Mark 12
Questions To Answer:
Who was the first person you ever “fell in love with?” What attracted you to them? Did you tell them?
Who was the first person to ever reject your interest? How did you cope with that rejection?
Look at the following list of famous rejections. (from online article by Rachel Hodin)
Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star in 1919 because, his editor said, he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”
JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, got fired when working at the London office of Amnesty International because she would write stories on her work computer all day long.
After a performance at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, Elvis was told by the concert hall manager that he was better off returning to Memphis and driving trucks (his former career).
Stephen King’s most renowned and first book, Carrie, was rejected thirty times. King decided to toss the book, which his wife then went through the trash to rescue and convinced him to re-submit it.
What was it about these famous people that allowed them to overcome relentless rejection?
Why do you think the Elders and Chief Priests took offense to Jesus’ parable?
Why would they care about their rejection of Jesus?
The rest of the chapter centers around our commitment and complete surrender to God.
What do we rest when we surrender our hearts to others?
Why do you think we continue to do this even after we are hurt?
In verses 28-34, Jesus says that the most important law is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”
How is it difficult to completely surrender everything (heart, soul, and mind) to the Lord?
Why do you think Jesus includes the second commandment?
Can’t we love God without having to love everyone else.
Reflect on the following statement from Lynn Anderson
“The way Jesus put it, our love for God is expressed, not in pews, pulpits, and stained-glass tones, but in relationships with people — in the way you and I get along with him and her and them. If being with God on Sunday doesn’t make us better at being with people on Monday, then we’ve missed the point. Real religion shines in right relationships.” – Lynn Anderson
Scriptures to Read:
Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Matthew 16:24-26
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
Isaiah 64:8-9
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
We are the clay, you are
the potter;
we are all the work of
your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;
do not remember our
sins forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
for we are all your
people.
A Thought To Ponder
From Jim McDoniel
Is It Love?
When I was 15 years old, I when to a state 4-H contest with a group from my high school. I had a girlfriend from a near by town, and all my friends knew she was my girl. However, during the week long camp, something happened, and I honestly don’t remember why we went our separate ways. We had dated awhile, but obviously, we were not in love! During the 4-H camp, another girl caught my eye, and I came home with a different girlfriend. That relationship was not love either.
I met Judy in our freshman year at Lipscomb, and after our first date, neither of us every dated anyone else. We were married during our senior year, and that was over 54 years ago. This is love!
Jesus says I am to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love like that will last longer than my teenage flings, and even longer than a lifelong marriage. God’s love for us is deep, and it never ends. He has shown us what true love looks like. It is real and deep, and it is unending!
A Prayer For Change
Turn My Heart
By Lynn DeShazo
Turn my heart O Lord
Like rivers of water
Turn my heart O Lord
By Your hand
‘Til my whole life flows
In the river of Your Spirit
And my name
Bring honor to the Lamb
Lord I surrender to
Your work in me
I rest my life within
Your loving hands
Turn my heart O Lord
Like rivers of water
Turn my heart O Lord
By Your hand
‘Til my whole life flows
In the river of Your Spirit
And my name
Bring honor to the Lamb