“They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.” Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?”

Mark 8:16-18

The parable of the two dogs fighting within us has been used by many preachers and writers, including Billy Graham and George Bernard Shaw. To the question, ‘Which dog wins?’, there is always the same response, ‘The one we feed.’ One dog symbolizes negative and ungodly qualities, including envy, greed, anger, selfishness, and arrogance. The other dog’s qualities are positive and godly, including love, joy, kindness, humility, and self-control. We choose the attitudes we nourish within us, and they determine what we become.

The disciples had failed, constantly, to understand Jesus and his mission as our text shows us. They had argued about power and status. Judas would betray him. Later, however, as the gospel writers were recording their stories, they had at last understood it all. When they had experienced the resurrection and with the help of the Holy Spirit, everything had come together in their hearts and minds; they became leaders of a church in a hostile world. They did not want to be seen as heroes or celebrities. They were ordinary people whom Jesus called out of their ordinariness. When they met their risen Lord, they understood why. That was the yeast that now shaped them, the yeast that would rise to eternal life.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus, help me be more sensitive to seeing your hand at work and to learn in greater and greater measure how to serve you and share who you are with others.
(edited from Encounter with God)