Reflective Bible Study

As we continue our chronological walk through the gospels looking at Jesus’ life and ministry, we come upon an event where it would be very easy for one of the individuals present to lose hope and faith in Jesus.

While the details of this gospel are not clear on if Jesus could have arrived in time had He not been distracted, because Jesus was distracted with an unexpected healing, we discover that the girl Jesus was headed to heal ultimately dies.

I suspect many of us who are familiar with the gospels know which event I am referring to. However, instead of jumping to the end of this event, let’s take a few minutes to focus on what happens leading up to the even-more-amazing-than-anyone-expected-it-to-be miracle that Jesus ultimately did.

If we look at the details leading up to the miracle, there are more than enough reasons for anyone faced with a similar situation to lose hope and faith in Jesus. However, with all these reasons for giving up hope, there are also hints within this passage that prompt us to keep our hope alive.

Let’s read what happened. Our passage for this episode is found in Mark’s gospel, chapter 5, and we will read it using the New Living Translation. Immediately following an unexpected healing, verse 35 tells us that:

³⁵ While he [referring to Jesus] was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”

³⁶ But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”

³⁷ Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. ³⁹ He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

⁴⁰ The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. ⁴¹ Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” ⁴² And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. ⁴³ Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.

Before this passage took place, Jesus had simply been a Healer – or an exceptional doctor – but after this passage, His reputation shifts into being a “life-giver”. The crowd, the messengers, and the mourners had all given up hope. “Don’t bother the Teacher anymore,” they said. Everyone, except Jesus, understood that returning someone’s life is different than simply returning someone’s health. They all believed that Jesus could return health, but returning life was completely different.

Jairus faces the tension in this passage: give up hope, or continue to have faith in Jesus. Mark tells us that Jesus stopped the crowd and told them (in addition to all but three of His disciples) to not go with Him the rest of the way to the house. It would seem that the pessimism in the crowd was spreading like a virus, and the last person Jesus wanted it to infect was Jairus, the father who Jesus wanted to help.

By stopping the crowd and only continuing with the select few individuals, Jesus stops the sea of pessimism and shifts it to one of curiosity and back in the direction of hope and faith.

However, the crowd of mourners at the house, like in the earlier crowd, had let death conquer their hope. Even Jesus, when He tried to shift their perspective, was laughed at. Death in their minds was nothing like sleep. These mourners understood that we wake up from sleep; we don’t wake up from death.

But Jesus would not be distracted. Taking the three disciples and the girl’s parents into the room, He proves all the naysayers wrong by giving life back to the dead girl.

In this event, Jesus proves that death really is just like sleep: at one point we lose consciousness, and at another point – when Jesus calls to us, we regain consciousness and “wake up”. Almost every spiritual truth has been illustrated by a physical parallel, and in this event, Jesus teaches us that physical sleep is our parallel to death.

But death is different than sleep. When we die, we cannot wake ourselves back up. After death, our bodies decay. Death in many ways is the absence of life, and our body’s internal systems cease to function or even exist. A loud sound can wake us up from sleep, but from death, no such noise can break its hold. Give our bodies just a little time to decay and we would not even have ears to hear that noise. When logically comparing death and sleep, death appears to be significantly different than sleep.

You may be scared of death. I can relate. There have been times in my life when the concept of dying is scary. But the truth I always come back to is Jesus – specifically the truth about who He is. Jesus is a “life-giver” and when given the opportunity, He gives life.

So with all this said, why would Jesus tell the crowd that this girl is not dead? Verse 39 records Jesus’ words as, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” There had to have been other doctors around who could have taken a pulse and determined when the heart actually stopped beating. With no heartbeat and no breath, the girl’s life had left her. Doctors at the time would have easily been able to call this, and they would have done so prior to Jairus meeting Jesus, since messengers come and find them before they reach the crowd that is headed to the house. The messengers bring the message that the girl had died, and there was no reason to think anything different.

That is, until Jesus pushed the crowd to think differently, until Jesus pushed Jairus to not lose hope, and until Jesus proved His point by demonstrating that we have reason for hope after death. This twelve year-old girl was given a second chance for life, and her new life had a purpose. From that point forward, her life was no accident – it had been given and returned especially to her for a purpose. Jesus would always hold a significant place in her heart.

Jesus is the “Life-giver”, and when given the opportunity to give life, He does so. We might not experience the miracle of having our lives restored in the same way that this girl experienced, but Jesus does promise to restore our lives at the end of history when He returns.

This passage and miracle help give us hope that death is not the end. The life Jesus gives is stronger than death. This means that if we ever face sleep-death like this girl did, we know that Jesus will be the first face we see when He wakes us up, and following Jesus waking us up, nothing resembling death will ever be able to take His life from us!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Purposefully place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Him to keep you safe throughout history, and believe that the first face you see following any prolonged “sleep” that your future holds will be Jesus.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow closer to Jesus today. The closer you are to Jesus in this life, the more excited you will be for Jesus to return.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or walk away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Not long after Jesus shared the parable of the farmer sowing seed that we looked at in our last episode, we discover that Jesus shared a set of lesser-known parables with His disciples while they are alone together.

However, as I have grown up in church and have heard two of the three parables in this set explained many times, as I have grown with God, I have begun to wonder if we are stopping short of a powerful truth that Jesus wanted us to learn. Part of this stopping short is ignoring the last parable in this set, while another part of stopping short relates to only viewing these parables from one perspective and not two.

Similar to how our previous episode focused on a very foundational parable, as I have studied and focused on the set of parables we will be looking at in this episode, the framing of these parables have shaped how I look at every single one of Jesus’ other parables.

So without any further delay, let’s look at this set of parables in our passage for this episode. Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 13, and we will read it using the New International Version. Starting in verse 44, Jesus taught His disciples by saying:

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶ When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

⁴⁷ “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸ When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. ⁴⁹ This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

These three parables wrap up a longer series of parables that Jesus shares in the early portion of Matthew chapter 13. I have heard the first two parables in this set shared many times and in many different ways. But almost always, I have heard these two parables framed as parables challenging us believers to treasure and focus on finding God like we are looking for a pearl or like we just found a treasure hidden in a field.

I wholeheartedly agree with this truth: We are to be constantly on the lookout for hidden treasure and valuable pearls as represented in these two parables – and that Jesus is the most valuable treasure we can find.

However, too often, we stop here. I don’t recall ever hearing a sermon on the third parable in this set, and I’m skeptical if I have heard a sermon framing the first two parables differently than I just described.

When reading this set of parables, I am struck with the realization that the third parable does not fit the same frame that we often times place the first two parables in. While the first two parables can easily be understood in the context of us seeing treasure and fine pearls, the third parable, which also contains the theme of seeking good fish, prompts us to look from a different perspective. Since Jesus does briefly explain the third parable, we can understand and conclude that the third parable is shared from God’s perspective when Jesus returns.

This pushes us past where we might be otherwise inclined to go. If these three parables are all speaking to the same or similar truths, and the third parable in this set is clearly explained as being from God’s perspective, then the best place for us to start looking at the other two parables is if they were shared from God’s perspective as well.

This means that while we should value seeking God like a treasure hidden in a field or like a valuable pearl and sell everything we own to acquire the priceless treasure, looking at these parables from God’s perspective challenges us with the parallel truth that God does the exact same thing.

In the first parable, where the kingdom of heaven is framed as a treasure hidden in a field, we could imagine that God is looking out across the universe, and hidden in the field known as the Milky Way galaxy, is a small, bluish-green planet locally known as Planet Earth. On this planet is a treasure, and God “sells” everything to acquire it.

However, if you are objecting to this interpretation because you understand the truth that God owns everything already, you’re not wrong. However, the perspective in Jesus’ parable is not on who owns what, but how much the main character is willing to give up to purchase the treasure. By choosing to disobey God and sin, our race sold itself into sin and slavery, and through Jesus, God came and purchased us. Another way to say this truth is that God redeemed us.

To further emphasize this point, the second parable compares the kingdom of heaven to a merchant looking for fine pearls. While the first parable has the kingdom of heaven being a treasure, we are also taught that the kingdom of heaven is actively seeking additional treasure. This too is significant, because God is looking at every one of us and looking at our character. A merchant who specializes in fine pearls is going to know when he finds one that is exceptionally valuable, and Jesus makes the case in this parable that God is actively searching for valuable people that He can purchase and save. When He discovers people who He sees as valuable, He sold everything He could to buy us back.

While you may not think of yourself as valuable or special in your own eyes, God sees more in you than you could ever know or understand – and regardless of what you have done to make you think that you are not valuable, in God’s eyes, you are worth sending Jesus to die in your place. You are worthy of God’s redemption.

The third parable compares the kingdom of heaven with a fishing net. If God’s kingdom is like the net itself, then it gathers everyone, both the good and the bad, before separating the righteous, valuable people from those who are wicked.

In all three of these parables, the focus is on acquiring things of value. The explanation of the third parable gives context for this block of three. These three parables are important from God’s perspective, and He is actively seeking out each of us because we are valuable to Him.

All too often, we like to place ourselves in Jesus’ parables, but while we may initially think of ourselves as the man who finds hidden treasure, or as the merchant, or even as a fisherman, the perspective given from God’s eyes places us as part of the hidden treasure called planet earth, part of the exceptionally valuable pearl called the human race, and as a fish – hopefully a good fish – that was gathered and saved by Him.

God loves you and I so much that He sold everything in order to get us back. He succeeded, but has left us with the freedom to choose whether to be free in Him, or whether to reject His gift. God will not force His gift on us. Instead, He allows you and I to choose whether we accept this gift or not.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Understand and believe that God loves you so much that He paid the ultimate price to buy you back from sin. Realize that God loves you more than you could ever imagine.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself. Through prayer and Bible study, discover how you can grow closer to God as you move personally closer to Him through personal prayer and study. With personal prayer and Bible study, discover who God really is and just how much He loves you!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through our first chronological year looking at events from Jesus’ life, we come to what many people may consider to be Jesus’ most famous parable. When we look a little closer at what Jesus shares about this parable, it is possible that this illustration is actually the most important parable in the entire Bible. This parable happens to also be among a very select group of parables that appear in three of the four gospels.

When looking at this parable and what Jesus teaches us within it, we get an amazing picture of God’s role and our role in the world today. While this parable is found in three of the gospels, let’s look at Mark’s version of it.

Our passage for this episode is found in Mark, chapter 4, and we will read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, Mark tells us:

¹ Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ² He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

Skipping down a couple verses, Jesus then explains this parable to the disciples when they are alone with Him. Coming back into chapter 4 at verse 13:

¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? ¹⁴ The farmer sows the word. ¹⁵ Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. ¹⁶ Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. ¹⁸ Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²⁰ Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

In this two-part passage, we have Jesus sharing one of His most famous parables as well as explain it to His disciples while they were alone together. One thing Mark includes that the other gospels don’t is Jesus’ pair of rhetorical questions in verse 13. Jesus asks the disciples: “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?”

This phrase clues me into the idea that Jesus perhaps thought that this parable was more significant than most of His other ones. While teaching and preaching, Jesus shared frequently about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven through parables, but perhaps this parable is more foundational. Of all the parables Jesus shared, this one might be the parable we assume relates to God’s kingdom, while Jesus doesn’t actually attribute it to it. I suspect that regardless of the lack of attributing this to the kingdom of heaven, this parable actually speaks more to the state of our sin-filled human hearts and God’s desire to reach us than it does about teaching us a big truth about how God operates.

However, while this parable is famous, I suspect Jesus knew that His words might be taken out of context or misunderstood. To help there be no confusion among His followers, Jesus comes right out and says what He meant with this parable:

First off, Jesus states that the farmer sows the word. This tells me that the seed in the parable is God’s Word or God’s message. The primary action taken in this parable is spreading God’s message with others.

Next Jesus frames the different types of soil as different types of people.

First, He talks about the path, which is so hard that the seed has no place to go and that is quickly snatched away. This is like someone who is so closed to God, the Bible, or anything spiritual or religious that anything even remotely seen as spiritual is quickly discounted or ignored. This type of soil could also represent the person who is so busy that nothing new is able to get in – no new thoughts, ideas, or even rest.

Next Jesus talks about rocky places. These people receive God’s Word with joy, but their joy does not last. There is no foundation or root, and as soon as the first problem appears, they drop the whole idea. This soil describes people who abandon any faith or belief in God when challenged by someone from another worldview. These people aren’t “bad”, they just have no foundation or root structure to help them respond.

The third type of soil Jesus describes is the soil that has competition. Whereas the first two soils had outside opposition, this third type of soil has inside competition. Worries, stress, desire, and the money trap are all internal struggles that may not stop us from starting to grow, but they will keep us from maturing.

These first three types of soil describe people who never become who God wants them to be. These three types of soil all have various challenges, but they all share the characteristic that the seed the farmer sowed wasn’t able to mature.

However, these three types of soil are not permanent. A skilled farmer or gardener could break up the rock-hard path, remove the stones from the poor soil, and weed out the thorns to make good soil out of what was formerly poor soil. However, while this is an important message for you when thinking about which type of soil is closest to your current heart, this detail is not the focal point of this parable.

The fourth and last type of soil Jesus focused on is the good soil, and the seed sowed in this soil is able to take root and grow. These people hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop. However, it is worth noting that even in their fruitfulness, there are still differences in how fruitful each person is.

What is often missed in Jesus’ explanation of this fourth type of soil is that maturing and being fruitful is what God sees as important. How fruitful you are is not an issue. The farmer is just as happy with the thirty times growth as he is with the one hundred times growth. Both are very sustainable. In God’s eyes, being fruitful is more important than how fruitful you are.

Before wrapping up our episode, there’s one more detail I want to draw our attention to: In Jesus’ explanation of this parable, He never identifies who the farmer is. He starts by explaining that the seed is God’s word, and the soil types are how receptive people are, while completely skipping over who the farmer is. This detail is important for me because it leaves the role of farmer open.

While it is possible that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the only acceptable Farmers in the context of this parable, I wouldn’t be surprised to discover Jesus sharing this parable with the intention that you and I could also step into the farmer role after we have matured in our relationship with God. Instead of worrying if we are one of the less-than-ideal types of soil, perhaps we should instead focus on being like the farmer and spreading God’s word and His message to those in our lives. If we chose to see ourselves as the farmer, not replacing Jesus but instead partnering with Him and His Holy Spirit, we might find ourselves to be more fruitful that we would otherwise realize or give ourselves credit for.

While I could go on talking about this parable, since it is one of my favorites, let’s save this discussion for later.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and ask Him to change your heart into being a better type of soil. Regardless of what type of soil you think your life or heart is, ask God to cultivate it into being the ideal soil that allows for Him to grow His truth in your life.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself in order to learn who Jesus really is – straight from God’s Word. While other people have ideas, take everything you read, hear, and see and filter it through the truth of God’s Word.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or let yourself be pulled away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving through Jesus’ life within the gospel record, we come to an event where some religious leaders challenge Jesus. However, when I read each of the three gospels that include this event, each gospel writer included a detail that I wanted to focus in on.

While one possible way to solve this problem would be to read the event from each of the gospels that includes it, that would result in reading three very similar sounding passages, and we might lose what makes each passage distinct.

Instead, I thought it would be beneficial to blend the three gospels together for this podcast episode. At the very least, this makes for an interesting reading of this event, and it may even help us see something new in what happened.

The three passages I will blend from are the following: Mark 3:22-27 will be the base passage I’ll read from, and I will pull in details from Matthew 12:24-30 and Luke 11:15-23. For all these passages, we’ll use the Contemporary English Version of the Bible. For those who are interested in which verses are from which gospel, this info will be included in the transcript for this episode. Starting in Mark, chapter 3, verse 22, we read that:

^{Mark 3:22} Some teachers of the Law of Moses came from Jerusalem and said, “This man is under the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons! He is even forcing out demons with the help of Beelzebul.”

^{Luke 11:16} Others wanted to put Jesus to the test. So they asked him to show them a sign from God.

^{Mark 3:23} Jesus told the people to gather around him. Then he spoke to them in riddles and said:

How can Satan force himself out? ^{Matthew 12:25b} Any kingdom where people fight each other will end up ruined. And a town or family that fights will soon destroy itself. ^{Matthew 12:26} So if Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? ^{Matthew 12:27} If I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? Your followers are the ones who will judge you. ^{Matthew 12:28} But when I force out demons by the power of God’s Spirit, it proves that God’s kingdom has already come to you. ^{Mark 3:26} So if Satan fights against himself, that will be the end of him.

^{Luke 11:21} When a strong man arms himself and guards his home, everything he owns is safe. ^{Luke 11:22} But if a stronger man comes and defeats him, he will carry off the weapons in which the strong man trusted. Then he will divide with others what he has taken. ^{Luke 11:23} If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in the crop with me, you scatter it.

When reading this compilation of these three gospels, we can see some significant themes and ideas. If you are interested in which verses went with each gospel, listen for the link I’ll share at the end of this episode, and look at the transcript for this information. In the transcript, I will have each verse and reference listed.

With this teaching pulled together from these three gospels, let’s look a little closer at it.

Mark’s gospel opens Jesus’ response by saying that Jesus spoke to the people in riddles, or other translations might say parables or illustrations. I find this detail significant because, at least for me, I remember the stories and illustrations that make me think better than the ones where I could correctly guess the punch line or conclusion.

I suspect that you and I may be similar in this regard. We might forget or ignore something that is too simple to be worth remembering or too abstract that we cannot even grasp it, but there is a window in between these two extremes that the right story or illustration can fit into.

Next, we switched over to Matthew’s gospel and discovered that Jesus didn’t just use riddles and stories, Jesus also defended His ministry using logic. In this short conversation-debate with the religious leaders, Jesus counters the challenge about whether He uses Satan’s power to cast Satan out using two logical conclusions.

First, Jesus says that Satan’s kingdom would self-destruct if it faced internal conflict with some sides casting out other sides. It would be similar to describing Satan’s forces experiencing a civil war, and internal wars between people on the same team never make the whole team stronger.

Secondly, Jesus says that the argument these religious leaders present, which suggests that Jesus uses Satan’s power to cast out demons, also incriminates their own priests and teachers who do the same thing. Jesus doesn’t discount God’s Spirit working through the priests and Pharisees who cast evil spirits out, but He challenges them on the idea that God only works through some avenues and not others when both outcomes are the same.

From Matthew’s gospel, we discover that Jesus taught a logical gospel, and that the gospel of Jesus is one that can be defended and supported with logic. As Christ’s disciples living in the world today, we should not fear or avoid defending our faith with logic. Christianity may be one of the most logical worldviews in existence today.

Next, we turn primarily to the gospel of Luke and discover another aspect related to how Jesus taught, which is illustrated by a strong man guarding his home. Not only does Jesus build on the parable-story and logic methods, He also brings in the method of having an overall theme that He is leading people to.

The theme that Jesus draws our attention to in this passage is that who we place our trust in matters more than we might realize: Will we trust in ourselves, like the strong man did, or will we trust someone stronger? This theme also is applicable to the logical arguments, because it matters who we place our trust in regarding God and Satan. Jesus is clearly illustrating that God is stronger, and that we should be placing our trust in Him.

The biggest key conclusion to Jesus’ teaching comes with a final punch: There is no middle ground. It is both a key point, and a challenge. Jesus isn’t trying to scare people into following Him, since fear is not a lasting motivator. Instead, Jesus brings this portion of His teaching to a very practical point of decision, and He leaves this decision in the hands of His listeners.

In these three gospel accounts of Jesus teaching on where His power comes from and on where we should place our trust, we find some excellent lessons on how to effectively teach others. Jesus shows us how to use illustrations, make people think, use logic, include an overall theme, and bring everything down to one single point that can be taken away and applied.

Jesus teaches us how to teach through His excellent teaching. If you are someone who leads, teaches, or who influences others, it is worth asking the question, “How can you use Jesus’ methods for your next presentation?”

However, before even beginning to apply Jesus’ methods, let’s briefly look a little closer at Jesus’ key point in Luke, chapter 11, verse 23: “If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in the crop with me, you scatter it.” Jesus’ key point in this teaching is that we must actively be gathering people with Him, because if not, we are against Him. There is no middle ground on this issue.

As followers of Jesus, we are called and challenged to point people to Jesus. If you are allied with Jesus, is leading people to Him the primary focus of your life?

While answering this question may be difficult to admit or accept, there is a right answer to this question, no matter how politically incorrect it may be in society today, and that right answer leads God’s people into eternity!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Intentionally look for ways to point people to Jesus and to tell others about Him. When our lives are over, the only thing that will have mattered is our personal relationship with Jesus.

Also, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn and grow personally towards God. The only way we are able to effectively share Jesus with those around us is if we know Jesus for ourselves. The best way to learn about Jesus and grow closer to Him is through regularly praying and studying the Bible.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!