Beauty and the Beasts

"And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him." Mark 1:13

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nyone looking for God can find him in Mark Chapter One and verse 13.  But, who could have ever imagined that he would place himself in such an unusual position.  Here we see a spectacle that must have puzzled not only man and beast, but also astonished the angels.  He is in the wilderness. 

 What a wilderness this world is.  The Scripture says he was "driven" to it.  No one is ever drawn there.  There we find loneliness, barrenness, dryness, and danger.  That pretty much describes any world without God.  He left heaven to come where we are.  He was there to make a point, mark a path, and fulfill a promise.  He came to rescue, redeem, and deliver us.  He would die for us.  But before he would die for us, he would live before us.  He would show us how to live abundantly and eternally.

 Notice where he was.  Beasts on one side, angels on the other, he in between.  Yet that is exactly where we all live every day.  We live between a lower and a higher nature.  Some men are pulled by their lower instincts and live like an animal.  Others feel the pull of a higher form of life.  Sin has stranded us in the middle.  Jesus came, not to "drive" us to heaven, but to "draw" us by his Grace.  Say "no" to the lower nature today and "sing" praises to God with the angels.

Do not settle for something less
than you were meant to be.
For one day we'll leave this wilderness
to  face eternity.

                                                                           - id