(Translated version, original article written in Chinese by Pastor Mickey Hsiao)
Worship
By singing praises and hymns, awake your soul, open your heart to the Lord, and prepare yourself to welcome the presence of God and receive the Word of God that will be given to you.
Thanksgiving
Petition with thanksgiving to God for a wonderful day and pray sincerely for a focused Scripture reading time! (Do not rush into reading the Bible without starting with prayers!) (e.g., you may start with a simple prayer like this: “Dear Lord, what will you be speaking to me today?)
Scripture Reading
Get the following items ready in advance: your devotional notebook, paper, pen, and/or electronic devotional articles so that you can easily write down the Bible verses, questions, and thoughts you have noticed! You are encouraged to open your Bible and vocally read out the scriptures (Try to practice this reading method daily or once a week)!
Scripture Reading: Mark Ch. 2 (ESV)
Meditation
Take a moment to quietly reflect on today’s Scriptures. Through such exercises, let God’s Word be gradually written into our hearts and be inscribed to our mind.
Devotional
Read the devotional articles prepared by CBCLWA (*Read the Bible first before reading any devotional materials.)
(vv.1-12) Jesus entered Capernaum again. While he was preaching, there were many people gathered around him. Suddenly, some men came, bringing to Jesus a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. It was not unusual for the sick ones to look for Jesus, but this case was quite unique. Because of such a big crowd, this group of men could not enter and get near Jesus, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and then lowered the mat that the paralyzed man was lying on to be near Jesus. When Jesus saw their act of faith, Jesus healed this paralyzed man and enabled him to rise up and walk out of the house in front of the crowd! It was not a surprise that Jesus can perform miracles to heal people. What was unique about this case was that Jesus purposely took this opportunity to let people know about his authority to forgive sins. At first, he said this, “…Son, your sins are forgiven.” (v5). And then he said, “…pick up your bed, and go home.” (v.11)
Ironically, when some of the scribes heard what Jesus said, “…Son, your sins are forgiven.” (v5), they started to question in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (v7). The reactions from the scribes were quite normal because they knew that forgiveness of sins is only possible with God. What was so special about this person before them is that he is Jesus who had preached in the synagogue, cast out demons, performed many miracles to heal people, and showed his authority over life (see Chapter 1 of the Gospel of Mark). By his miracle of “commanding a paralyzed man to get up and walk” publicly, Jesus proved to everyone that he has equality with God and he has the authority to forgive sins. This group of scribes just couldn’t stand watching or listening to Jesus, because their hearts were in the wrong place.
What is your attitude toward Jesus? Can you see the work of Jesus? May we all come to Jesus with faith and true repentance for our sins, see His power, and give all glory to Him. Beware of prejudice and self-righteousness, as these things will cause your heart to harden, turning you away from God unconsciously.
(vv.13-28) Often times, Jesus seems to be surrounded by two different kinds of people. Some of them gave glory to God for what Jesus had said or done, and were willing to follow Jesus and submit to his authority, while others challenged or even tested Jesus for what he had said or done and found ways to trap him to kill him. Some of them showed up in front of Jesus many times: when Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, when he was walking in the grainfields on Sabbath, and when he was preaching in the synagogues. (vv. 3:1-6)
Jesus had said this to them directly, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (v.17) Although it is true that everyone needs Jesus, not everyone knows they need Jesus. Think about this. If a person thinks he is healthy and considers himself as perfect, why would he need Jesus? Only those who know that they are sick and sinful would want to healed and forgiven. They will humble themselves before God and acknowledge that Jesus is God and he has the authority to forgive sins. Only such people will come before Jesus to ask for healing and cleansing and be born again.
Jesus also said, “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” (v.21-22) Previously, we have all inherited ideas from family traditions or religious traditions, and our personal values have been influenced by the values and culture in our society and of this world. Once we became a Christian, whatever ideas we had received in the past, we shall count them as loss for the sake of Christ. We will be given a new vision, a new heart for His Kingdom, and a new life in Christ.
Pray
Give thanks to God for His enabling us to read the Scriptures and for our response for living out the Word of God today! (e.g., You may start with a simple prayer like this: “Dear Lord, what/where are you going to lead me to today?”)