March 5

Numbers 4-5

Mark 12:18-37

Psalm 48:1-14

Proverbs 10:26

The religious leaders of Jesus' time were trying to trip him up. The smartest and wisest of the Pharisees and Sadducees thought they could ask a question that would stump Jesus. Yesterday, we read that they asked him about taxes. Today, we read that they asked him about marriage and the resurrection. What if a woman married seven brothers, one right after another once one died? What a mess that would make, right? Now, I know that the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection. But assuming that there is a God who has the ability to bring the dead back to life (which we know to be true), wouldn't it also be safe to assume that this very same God would know how to deal with marriage when this takes place?! Think about that for a minute. Marriage compared to resurrecting the dead is nothing! Of course God would have that detail figured out! 

The problem with these religious leaders (and with us as well) is that they are looking at things with their human eyes. How can we, with our human eyes and limited minds, comprehend all the details that God sees and knows and understands? How can we expect to ask God a question that He will not know the answer to? We simply can't.

So we're concerned with taxes and who will be married to who in the afterlife. These are the issues that our human minds deem to be important. But what does God say is important? Simply this: Love Him and love your neighbor. That's all there is to it. If we give these two things the highest priority in our lives, then everything else will just fall into place. 

"For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end."

Psalm 48:14