Drinking Age

Mark 10: ³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask.”

³⁶ And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

³⁷ They said to Him, “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.”

³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”

³⁹ They said to Him, “We are able.”

So Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; ⁴⁰ but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.”

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“This will require more work” the person said to me. “I can handle it” was my reply. At first things seemed rather easy, but after a while things got complicated. This was my first time managing a team and things were falling apart. I had to quickly “drink from the fire hose” of issue resolution techniques to get things back on track.

• Sometimes life comes at me too fast.
• Sometimes it feels like one problem compounds into twenty.
• Sometimes it seems like I am drowning because I have so many problems and not enough solutions.

“You will indeed drink the cup that I drink” was said to James and John, the sons of thunder. This was to say, “You will be pursued and persecuted.” Drinking in this instance was accepting the wrath of persecution summoned up by the enemy. James and John had to be strong.

• JESUS wants me to grow up enough to handle the persecution of these days.
• JESUS wants me to mature in HIM so I can face difficult situations and remain in HIM.
• JESUS wants me to graduate to another stage in life where I’m not just mouthing HIS words but living them.

Living in CHRIST means I need to expect the wheels to fall off of my plans at a moment’s notice. HE knows the adversary wants to rob me of joy so I must be prepared by asking JESUS for protection daily.

• Are you growing in CHRIST?
• Are you able to see persecution and ask GOD for strength to go through it?
• Can you ask GOD to open your eyes to how HE is maturing you to handle more of HIS responsibilities HE has for you?