January 22, 2025 // Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children (in USA)

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 3:1-6

Reflect on the Word // 

Jesus, why did You come to the synagogue that day? You knew who would be there, what would happen. So many other times, You told those who followed You not to share Your true identity, not to tell of what they saw. At this moment, You took the stage. “They watched Jesus closely” (Mark 3:2). You knew they were watching Your every move.

Sometimes I feel like everyone is watching me. The older I get, the more children and godchildren and friends I accumulate, the more I feel responsibility for my actions. I’m living my life as a Christian in an overwhelmingly secular world. Those who don’t follow Christ will look to me to see how Christians behave. The next generation looks to me to see how they should behave. 

Jesus didn’t shy away from the pressure, the attention, the constant surveillance. He gave the Pharisees what they wanted.

There is “a time to be silent, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7). There is a time to blend in with the crowd or even to disappear, and a time to let our light shine brightly. Sometimes when we speak the truth in love, or when we choose to live our values to the fullest, those around us will turn their backs in disgust or outright malice. Sometimes our healing and joy, our message of hope and our abandonment to God’s will makes enemies of those who should love us.

We are not alone in this. Jesus boldly went first and asks us to follow. He knew—because He was perfectly united to and listened to the Father—exactly what was required of Him to accomplish His work for the Kingdom. If we take time to pray with the Word and to listen, we will also know what part we are to play. And we need not be afraid because “perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).