Mark 8:29
And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said to him in reply, "You are the Christ."
Often in our lives, we face trials or situations that are very difficult for us to comprehend. We might ask, "how could this happen?" or we might exclaim, "I simply cannot believe that you did that!" It's so incredible that it's nearly unbelievable. There might be a situation in your life where this is the case; it might be good fortune or a run of just plain bad luck.
In today's reading from Mark, Jesus asks the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter says, "You are the Christ." Then Jesus tells the disciples he will be killed, denied and rise from the dead. They couldn't believe what Jesus was saying and called Peter out on it.
Being a Christian in today's world is difficult. Our faith is tested daily by those we encounter, by social media and many temptations. We can fall into sin and sometimes that trickle of sin can become a raging river if we don't get control of it. Denying Jesus and God's endless mercy can be a sinful thing. I struggle with confession because I don't want to face my sins and admit them to someone else. I want to deny they exist. That can become a very dangerous place to live. Jesus is the Christ, and we should all run to him, no matter how messy our lives are, even if we want to deny it. Pray today for the courage to face the reality of our sinful ways and make restitution with those we've sinned against.
By the way, "d'nile is a river in Egypt."
