A Word from Mark 3

What are the “assignments” that you think the Lord has in store for you this week? Does He want you to pray and spend some time reading His Word? Does He want you to serve others and tell them about His love? Or is it possible that the Lord has a more particular “assignment” in mind for you—a change He wants you to make, or person He wants you to forgive?

Well, if we did any of these things, I think we’d be doing the Lord’s will. But in today’s word from Mark Chapter 3, the gospel offers a “framework” for thinking about the “assignments” God gives us. And while it includes what I’ve already mentioned, it’s also both simpler—and more expansive.

The Bible says that “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out…” (3:13-14, emphasis added).

Now this, obviously, is Mark’s take on the call of the Twelve Apostles. And while I wouldn’t want us to be prideful, thinking that our role is quite the same as theirs, I do think we share with them a common assignment.

First, we’re assigned to “be with” Jesus. And while that includes praying, and reading the Bible and such—I think it’s ultimately about attentiveness. We’re called to abide in Jesus, so we can watch, and listen, and so that who he is begins to reshape who we are.

And as we experience that transformation, we’re assigned to be “sent out.” We go into each day, knowing that he’s got a mission for us! A mission of sharing good news and serving others. A mission of looking for the places that he’s at work, and then doing what we can to join him there.

So in this new work week…let’s embrace our assignment! And may that rhythm of “being with” and “going out” set us apart as disciples of a Living Lord. Amen.