Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

January 02, 2019

by Pastor Hawtree

BIBLE READING: MARK 2

16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
18 And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?
19 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
20 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days

There is so much in this chapter that we could comment on. What a wonderful story about the four men that let their friend who was bed stricken down through the roof of that house. What a site that must’ve been. Not everybody was happy about that though. There’s always somebody that doesn’t like what the Lord is doing.

Then the religious leaders were upset because they saw Jesus eating with publicans and sinners. Isn’t that amazing that that is the worst thing they could come up with about Jesus, that He loved the down and out individuals. Wouldn’t it be great if more of us did? Then they criticized the fact that Jesus’ disciples did not fast like the other religious people did. This is His response:

19…Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
20 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.

Jesus was saying that there was no need to fast in order to get closer to Christ when Christ is already with you. You see, the disciples did not need to fast to get closer to Christ because they were with Him every day. But Jesus said that “the days will come” when He would not be here in physical presence and that’s when they would need to fast.

So this is important for you and I. Have you considered fasting recently in your life? Are you needing a spiritual breakthrough. Is there a burden on your heart that you are carrying. Jesus said that fasting would be needed in the days ahead. We are in those days now. Consider today if there are some things in your life that you need to fast from to grow closer to Jesus today. Just a thought! Maybe we should skip a meal, or skip a TV program, or skip 45 minutes on Facebook to spend some time with Christ.