93. A Walk With Jesus (Things of Men)

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
Mark 8:31-32

Now before we jump the gun, attacking Peter, let us walk in Peters shoes. Peter had just told Jesus by revelation from God that he knew who Jesus was, the Christ the Son of Yahweh. And in response Jesus said He must be killed?! No! would say Peter, Heaven forbid it! They were at the peak of their ministry, they were healing the sick and raising the dead, things were happening that had never happened before, the kingdom was coming and coming soon! What was this non-sense about suffering and being killed? ... I think had we been apart of 12 we too would have thought things very similar...

But when Jesus turned and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" He said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
8:33

Not that Peter was Satan or possessed by Satan, but that his focus had been on the here, the now. Peter was not looking ahead for you or I, he was not paying attention to redemptive history, he was caught in the moment and had lost sight of what mattered.

I wonder how many times Jesus would rebuke me the same; too many more than I would like to know. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." It is there that we continue in our thoughts, consumed with the concerns of daily life? The cares of this life are great, I share in the worries and heartache of it all at times. But where is my heart when swept away by the information that addresses me in the most inconvenient of times? If it is not firmly placed in the knowledge of God than it is certainly prone to much wandering. And when my mind wanders away from the love of Christ so too will my heart; and when my heart follows, it is sure to be accompanied by my actions. How do you stop such madness? At the roots of course.

Most practically speaking, read the word of God, treating it as the words of God. Fill your mind with healthy material that will strengthen and encourage you and give you things to constantly consider. Then pray that God makes you observant to obey what you had previously read. Then we can keep our mind focused on the things of God and the things of men will slip through our fingers like unwanted dirty water.

Pray i do the same,