A Savior to Serve

We have a Savior to serve. That is our theme during the season of Lent. Really, though, that is our theme all the time. We are called to follow and to serve our Savior in the same ways that he followed and served his Father. We will find that if our lives are based on following Jesus, we will serve him and we will serve our fellow travelers along life's road. We will also find that it is a very costly and very rewarding way to live.While serving Jesus should be our theme all the time, it is good to have special times during which we can focus on our discipleship. Lent and Holy Week offer special opportunities to do just that. Hopefully, our focus on this theme during this season will inspire us to reflect on it as we live our lives from now on.The lessons in this unit are all based primarily on Mark's account of Holy Week, those days leading up to Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday. So the words Jesus spoke and the actions he carried out in our Gospel texts were spoken and done during a time of great tension, controversy, and danger that called for his great commitment, dedication, faith, and determination.This final week was also a time full of opportunities for Jesus' disciples to learn how to live in times of tension, controversy, and danger, which they would have to do soon enough. They learned their lessons the hard way, through much misunderstanding and failure. We most likely will learn our lessons the same way. Perhaps our study of these texts will give us an opportunity, in the safety of our church and class, to make progress in our commitment to serve our Savior faithfully under the dangerous and trying circumstances that can confront those who follow the way of Christ.We need the Lord's help to make that kind of progress. We also need each other's help.It was a hard journey for Jesus and his disciples. Let's go with them and see where the road leads us.