January 14, 2015 – Smriti "Simmi" D. Isaac

“Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?”

Mark 8:34-35 MSG – A verse of the day from the Bible presented in Eugene Peterson’s contemporary version called The Message. Accompanied by a personal reflection below.

Some rather seemingly unsettling advice being offered here. Do you dare? To let go and let God? To embrace suffering? To follow God in utter and only faith? To stop trying to arrange things? Because, there’s a question here that one must honestly answer: what good is it if you get everything you think you really want, and yet lose yourself in the process? Would that be worth it all?