Mark 10:38 But Jesus said to them, Ye know not what ye ask.
What Are We Missing?
The other day I came home and was relaxing on my bed when suddenly I could hear some dishes clattering and could smell something delicious. Speaking to my family in the next room, I asked, “Are you guys eating supper?” My lovely wife replied, “Yes. I asked if you were ready for supper.” What had happened was that when she had called everyone to supper, I must have said something like, “Sure, let’s go.” So, my family was having supper and wondering where I was! That kind of thing happens to me often. I miss out on what is going on because I am so absorbed in what I am thinking or doing.
Our human tendency is to be totally self-absorbed and self-interested. The sum and substance of our entire world becomes what we can fit into our own head. We are so focused on the things that we care about, that we can’t see, hear, or comprehend anything else.
This is the story of mankind, and it is the story of the disciples. The Bible tells us how that on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was telling His disciples what things would happen to Him. Jesus said, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: and they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.”
That is epic. Jesus is speaking of the central focus of all human history to a very limited group of men. What would you have said if you were there? What could you have possibly said in response to something so heavy? James and John had something to say. They said, “Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.”
Could anyone possibly be more tone deaf than that? These men were listening to Jesus talk about His death, burial, and resurrection to come, yet all they could think about was their own ambitions.
Earlier, they had an argument among themselves about who would be the greatest in the kingdom, even as they were in the company of God the Son! How embarrassing, shameful, and tone deaf. Yet, I wonder how many things I have missed because I am so absorbed in my own self-interest. I am focused on myself. My entire cosmos is confined to the size of my hat band. There is more to this world than just you and me, and God wants us to live in time investing for eternity.
The bottom line is that we miss so much in this world when we reduce it to nothing more than or own personal interests. If I am so busy trying to think of an answer to what God has said that I can’t hear what He has said, then I am missing out. If I am so busy with my own preoccupation, my own life, my own selfishness that I can’t pay attention and learn lessons from life’s experiences, that is not good.
The disciples are not in the Bible so I can condemn them and try to set them straight; they are in the Bible because they reflect so much of me. We can learn from their lives that there is more to live for than self. There is One greater than all of us, and that is the Lord Jesus. Don’t’ miss out on all that He wishes to teach by reducing the entire world to things that are little more that your own self-interests.