Mark 4: 35-41
Are you afraid to die? I remember as a junior age – teen lying in bed wondering what it was like to die and being fearful. I would hold my breath and attempt to see what it was like to die. The unknown has a way of making us fearful.
The story in Mark 4 is about Jesus being asleep as a great storm was about to sink the boat he and the disciples were in. Being afraid to die, the disciples awoke Jesus who miraculously calmed the storm. This great miracle caused the disciples to shift their focus from their fear of death to a fear of the Lord Jesus and His great power on their behalf. Fearful in verse 40 means afraid because of danger; feared in verse 41 means to be in awe or respect. So, because of the great miracle Jesus did, their focus shifted from death to an awe of the power of Jesus Christ on their behalf!
Similarly, my fear of death is removed as I focus on what the Lord Jesus did on Calvary to remove my sins from me and give me eternal life in Heaven. As I shift my focus to this great miracle He did on my behalf, my fear of death shifts to an awe of the miracle Jesus did for me when He saved me! Now join me as I shout Hallelujah and praise to the Lamb slain and risen for us!
This truth helps to serve as a motivation to learn about and serve Christ while we are alive on the earth. Galatians 2:20 – “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”