Daily Bread 8-17-17
Mark 14:16-18
16 And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.
17 And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.
18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which earth with me shall betray me.
ref. - Mt 26:20 - Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
Lk 22:14 - And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.
Jn 13:21 - When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
There will come a time in all of our lives when the pages of the book turn no more and the judgment will be set. A time when we will be looked at for our strengths and our weaknesses and our eternal dwelling will be determined. We dare not have anything between us and Christ when the final supper comes. As we know from this story there was one who had something between himself and Christ. Something that he tried to hide but it was inside of him. When Christ announced that one would betray him, no one could figure out who it was going to be. They did not know the actual heart of the man sitting next to them or across from them. All that they did know was that they needed to take a personal inventory of what was inside of them. You see, Judas had something called greed living inside of him. Although he knew it was there he did nothing about it. It grew and grew until it caused him to betray the very one who had supported him and helped him through the years. What we need to gather from this story, as Christians, is that there is nothing hidden when it comes to Christ. We know if there is something inside of us that is sin or something that is more important than him. Before it destroys us for eternity it is best to get it out. The only way to get something like this out of us is to call on God in Jesus' name and let it be taken from us. But burying it so that the world cannot see it will not remove it from our hearts. As we know, this betrayal ended Judas in a suicide. Even after all of the good that he did for Christ, he ended up in a death that was not rewarded but caused him to be condemned to eternal damnation. He had given up his work, his family, his life, and followed Jesus, only to let something creep in and destroy all that God had allowed him to be a part of. Is this the end that we seek? Heaven forbid. Jesus did not take this lightly as he loved Judas, but he loved God more. And he did not force Judas to mend his ways nor did he just simply remove it from him. He needed to be asked. Now, this betrayal was written and prophesied about for thousands of years so it had to happen. But the betrayal that we cause when we bottle things up inside of us is not supposed to happen. Jesus Christ has been given the power to forgive all sin. And not only to forgive it, but to cast it to the bottom of the sea, never to return. He can remove it from us. Completely and thoroughly remove it. Something that no one else can do can be done in Jesus Christ. And all he is waiting for is for us to call on him and ask. Just a little bit of faith will be the act that determines our eternal outcome. So, today, while it is today, let us go to our knees and ask him to remove any and all that we do, say, or think, that causes him to be betrayed. Jesus Christ has done everything for a people that have done little or nothing and he deserves our loyalty and obedience. Not just with our mouths, but with our hearts, minds, and souls. We cannot do it alone. It is a gift from God, that he gave his only son, so that we should not perish, but have everlasting life. We have one shot at this life, we had better get it right. And the right way is the way of Jesus Christ!! Have a great day!!!