Feb. 19, 2015: Mark 9:2-9

We encourage you to read this devotion three times a day.  Start in the morning and reflect upon the morning reflection question. Then in the afternoon, read it again and reflect using the noon question for reflection.  For the evening, take time to ponder how this has resonated with you in the day and reflecting using the evening question.  We offer a prayer with each devotion for you to pray or we invite you to pray what is in your heart.

 

Mark 9:2-9

2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. ⁵Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ ⁶He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ ⁸Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Key Verse: vv.7 And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him."  

Reflection: 

This is a passage that solidifies the title of Jesus as the Son of God.  It is a mountaintop experience- literally and figuratively.  I churchy language, we often talk about our mountain-top experiences and our valley experiences- meaning to outsiders our highs and lows in life.  I want to focus in specifically on the last part of seven because I think it holds for each of us a specific command for Christians.  Most of us are really not that good at listening.  I am reminded of this, all too often by my wife.  However, in this passage God tells the three on the mountain with Jesus that they need to listen.  I read somewhere that our lives are too often so loud that we fail to hear the whisper of the Divine in our lives.  I have found that to be painfully true.  We have lots of excellent excuses for not hearing or following God- time, commitments, work, stress, and financial burdens.  However, they are indeed excuses.  The longer I live in relationship with God, the more I realize that God is indeed a God of provision.  That doesn't mean we just sit back and wait for God to take care of everything.  Faith is only authentic if it moves us to action.  With that being said, we must remember to listen for God and then be wise enough to trust in the Divine direction offered.  If we can do that, I believe our lives will be transformed.

Reflection Questions: 

Morning: How good are you at listening?  What is the biggest thing (loudest thing) in your life that prevents you from hearing God?

Noon:  What is one area of your day that has become clear you need to work on at listening?

Evening:  Where has God clarified the places you need to work on listening?  How are you going to do better?

Prayer:  Clean out my ears.  I want to hear your voice.  I need to know that you are speaking to me and I desperately need your direction.  Help me hear you and then give me enough will to act on your direction.  Whether in the good or in the difficult season of my life, help me to seek you and then live for you.