Devos for March 1st (By Jordan W.)

Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
-Mark 8:27-29

Who would’ve thought that mankind’s most significant question would be asked on some obscure dusty road?  Although few were there to hear its first utterance, all must give an answer.  “Who do you say that I am?” a question in which, depending on your answer, hinges our eternal existence.  Be careful how you answer because no question will ever be more important.
Were the bewildered disciples prepared for Jesus to drop such a question on them?  Probably not, but he did prepare them with another question.  Real casual like, he said, “who do people say that I am?”
“Oh”, they said “Lots of different things.  Everyone has an opinion about you.  Some say you are John the Baptist back from the dead, some say you are Elijah, others are saying you are some sort of prophet.  You name it and it’s been suggested”. 
But, you see, none of these opinions mattered and they still don’t matter.  People have had their opinions about Jesus ever since he was brought out of the manger and they always, always will.  In other words, who cares what other people think?  What Jesus wants to know, all he really wants to know is…
“Who do YOU say that I am?”
He doesn’t want to know who your parents or your pastor says that he is, he only wants to know who YOU say he is.  He wants to hear you say, like Peter said, that he is the “Christ”.  And, how you say it is important.  He is not looking for lip service here, he wants you to say it with your life.
Back to the bewildered disciples on the dusty road.  Who did they say Jesus was?  They said that he was the Christ by spreading his message to the ends of the earth.  They said that he was their king by living their lives for him, and they said that he was their God by dying a martyr’s death.
So, that’s who they said he was.  Now… who do you say that he is?
Prayer:
Father, please help us to proclaim our allegiance to you by all that we say and do.