August 18
Willing to Suffer?
And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. - Mark 15:23
A golden truth is couched in the fact that the Savior pushed the myrrhed wine-cup from His lips. On the heights of heaven the Son of God stood of old, and as He looked down upon our globe He measured the long descent to the utmost depths of human misery. He considered the sum total of all the agonies that expiation would require and didn't shrink. He solemnly determined that to offer a sufficient atoning sacrifice He must go the whole way, from the highest to the lowest, from the throne of highest glory to the cross of deepest woe. This myrrhed cup, with its anesthetic influence, would have prevented Him from experiencing the utter limit of misery, and therefore He refused it.
He would not stop short of all He had undertaken to suffer for His people. How many of us have cried for comfort in our grief to keep us from injury! Reader, did you never pray to be relieved of hard service or suffering with a petulant and willful eagerness? In a moment providence has taken from you the desire of your eyes. Say, Christian, if you were told, "If you want, your loved one will live, but God will be dishonored," could you have put away the temptation and said, "Your will be done"?
It is good to be able to say, "My Lord, if for other reasons I do not need to suffer, yet if I can honor You more by suffering, and if the loss of my earthly goods will bring You glory, then let it be. I refuse the comfort if it stands in the way of Your honor." Let us learn to walk in the footsteps of our Lord, cheerfully enduring trial for His sake, promptly and willingly putting away the thought of self and comfort when it would interfere with our completing the work that He has given us to do. Great grace is needed, but great grace is provided.
Family Bible reading plan
verse 1 Jeremiah 47
verse 2 Psalms 23, 24
Mindscape
Anxiety and worry. They’re commonplace in everyday life. We worry about the safety and wellbeing of our children. We worry about our health. We become anxious over our jobs and our finances . . . and uneasy over the seemingly endless challenges of everyday life. Unfortunately, when difficulty happens, worry can lock us it its grip. So, how do we change our thinking? How do we alter our mindscape? Author Timothy Witmer, Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, looks to the Apostle Paul to help us reset our thinking. Mindscape helps readers replace fear and worry with peace that surpasses all understanding. By exploring the root of anxiety, worry, and escapism, learn to rest in what is true, right, noble, pure, lovely, and admirable to find freedom from stress and worry.
Click here to learn more about Truth For Life
From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.
