Movement, not motion
Day 538, Saturday, Jan. 31
Mark 6:1-29
Mark, we know, is a story that moves a lot. Jesus goes from place to place and sends others. In chapter 6 we see that movement isn’t mere motion—it has to accomplish something.
When Jesus preaches in his hometown, people are willing to listen (“many who heard him were amazed”), but unwilling to place their faith in him. He responds, typically for Mark, by moving on.
We get some insight into this when Jesus sends his disciples out two-by-two and gives them instructions on how to proceed: “When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
He doesn’t want them rushing about, house to house, trying to find a place to fit in, but rather wants them to keep the expansion of the gospel moving and expanding.

-Rev. Mark Fleming

Saturday meditation

Psalms 72:1-7
Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.
May the mountains bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness. May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor. May he endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations. May he be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth. In his days may the righteous flourish and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

Prayer focus
Let us be effective in our testimony, knowing when it is time to stay and when it is time to move on.