Hope in the Gospel

This summer, amidst the sunshine and blue skies, I’ve focused myself on the Gospel. Stories of Jesus and His love have taught me more than I could have imagined and opened so many doors within my soul. Today, I want to share with you a particular verse that stopped me in my tracks and got me singing His praise.

In Mark 6, Jesus is traveling through cities with His apostles, preaching to crowds, healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons. After a few days of this, Jesus gets in a boat with the twelve and goes to a solitary place (Mark 6:32). However, thousands had heard of the miracles of Jesus and followed Him. Basically, Jesus was the A.D. version of a celebrity and His followers were the paparazzi, not giving Him any space to breathe. I’m not sure about y’all, but personally I would be getting a bit sick and tired of my new friends. I mean, who wouldn’t? Jesus had spent the past few days completely focused on other people, spending all of His time saving them and changing their lives! Anyone would be tired and want some time to themselves. But not Jesus.

When Jesus saw that the crowds had followed Him to His place of solitude, He had compassion on them (Mark 6:34). He didn’t send them away, He didn’t ignore them, He wasn’t mean to them. Instead, He took care of them. He helped and provided for them. Guys…is He for real? Can you believe that after all He had already done, He continued to help His people?! This truly blows me away!

No matter how clingy, frustrating, suffocating, or needy we are Jesus’ love for us never fails! Jesus never denies us. He doesn’t see our dependence on Him as a burden, He sees it as something beautiful, and for that He saved us! The Lord wants us to seek Him every minute of every day. To Him, clingy is a good thing. So next time you’re feeling a little too needy or whiny, remember that there’s nothing more God wants you to do than talk to Him about it, because He loves you more than you could ever comprehend.

Take Mark 6 as a lesson: follow Jesus. No matter where you are or where you go, follow Him. We are sheep and He is our shepherd. He wants to guide us and to provide for us, but you have to open your heart and let Him. Don’t be scared to let your faith consume you, child, because when you do He will set your heart on fire with love! And His flame, y’all, is the only one that doesn’t burn.