Fully Surrendered

 

Mark 10:13

How did the disciples get this so wrong? How could they have not known that Jesus welcomed the opportunity to bless these children? Assuming the book of Mark is somewhat in chronological order, this would have happened after the event described in Mark 9:36 where Jesus demonstrated his love for a child. How then did they not think He would make time for these children? And why didn’t they ask Him before dealing with the children according to their own understanding? This is what they thought was right and what they wanted but it was not what Jesus wanted. In fact, “He was greatly displeased…” (Mark 10:14)

I’ve read this verse many times before but reading it this time brought conviction. How many times have I done something that I thought was right and that I even thought was God’s will, only to find out it wasn’t? Those were times when I should have checked with God first before moving forward and doing what I thought was right. Those are also the times when I have found that even the “right thing” can be wrong, if I don’t get His opinion before lifting a finger.

As followers of Jesus, we must be careful not to make this mistake. We do not want to do something that we think is right only to find out it displeases God. To avoid this, we must get to know Him and be willing to ask Him what He wants done. We must ask how He wants to handle each situation in my life. We must then be fully surrendered.