Day 78/260: Read Mark 10

The Christian life, while rich with blessings, is not an easy life. Suffering accompanies faithfulness. Those who teach differently have overlooked this plain teaching in the revealed Word.

Paul told Timothy, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). We may not suffer to the same extent as those in the first century, but we will be mistreated by those around us.

Yet, there are certainly blessings, both in this world and the next. “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.”

Yes, you will have to give up certain things in this life to be faithful to God. Human relationships may be broken. In sacrificing those things that keep you from Christ, though, you gain so much more that keeps you near Him: a church family that wants to help you go to heaven with them!

Memory (Fill in the blanks)

Mark 9:50. “___________ is good, but if the salt loses its ___________, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have ___________ with one another.”

Pray

Pray for the strength to say “no” to things and people that hinder your faith.