Tuesday - Matthew 16:21-25

"You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men"

Why is it that when we are called to suffer for Christ we question our faith. Not that we question why we chose this Christian life, but we question that conviction in our hearts, that only comes from the Holy Spirit. We start to try and justify why the Lord wouldn't allow us to suffer for Him; that His will would want the best for our lives, not to suffer. It is true that God wants the best for us but it is according to His standard not mans standard. He knows what is truly best for each one of us and will give to us accordingly, as He knows best.

Jesus' mind was set on the things of God, he was doing the will of He who sent Him. But Peter, with his mind set on the things of man, thought it was not fitting for the Messiah to be put through this suffering. In his ignorance, he was sentencing his own eternal damnation by trying to persuade Jesus from the path of the cross; not just that, but he was also disqualifying himself from the blessings and eternal rewards that God so desired to graciously bestow upon Him.

It makes me wonder how many blessings we may "disqualify" ourselves from by being mindful of mans ways and standards rather then our Gods. It is good to ask ourselves, "Is Jesus ours, or are we His"? The difference being the motive of why we are Christians. Are we Christians because we desire Jesus or because we desire the blessings of Jesus. Even He declares, " If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Let us settle this in our hearts, that we are God's and we must follow His will through blessing and suffering, knowing that he knows best.