Point Break
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them. ~ Mark 14:10
Have you ever had one of those days when you thought, “If one more thing goes wrong, I might just lose it?” The coffee spills, the phone won’t stop ringing, someone disappoints you, your schedule falls apart, and then the dog decides today is the perfect day to eat your favorite shoe. Most of us have experienced moments when life seems to pile on all at once. The real question isn’t whether we’ll face pressure. The question is, where will we run when we reach our breaking point?
In today’s reading, Mark places two very different people side by side. First, there is a woman who pours out an expensive flask of fragrant oil on Jesus. It was probably the most valuable possession she owned, yet she gladly gave it because of her love and devotion to Him. While others criticized her, Jesus defended her. He said her act of worship would be remembered wherever the Gospel was preached.
Then, immediately afterward, we read about Judas. The contrast couldn’t be greater. One person surrendered everything to Jesus. The other walked away from Him.
I don’t believe Judas’ betrayal happened overnight. Long before he betrayed Jesus with a kiss, he had allowed other things to take root in his heart. Scripture tells us he had been stealing from the ministry’s money bag. Greed had quietly become more important than his relationship with the Lord.
Then came the moment that seems to push him over the edge. As he watched the woman pour out what he considered a waste of money, something inside of him snapped. Instead of softening his heart toward Jesus, he hardened it even more. He left that gathering and went directly to the chief priests to negotiate Jesus’ betrayal.
It makes me wonder. Was it really about the money? Or had Judas slowly allowed disappointment, offense, selfish ambition, and unbelief to build until he finally reached his breaking point? Most people don’t make life changing decisions in a single moment. They make them one compromise at a time.
The same is true for us. When pressure builds, whatever has been growing inside our hearts will eventually come out.
Here are three points we can take away from this passage.
1. Guard your heart before you reach your breaking point. Breaking points don’t usually begin during a crisis. They begin long before the crisis arrives. Small offenses, disappointments, jealousy, or unconfessed sin can quietly grow if we don’t bring them to the Lord. Spend time with God every day, allowing Him to search your heart before those things take root.
2. Run to Jesus, not away from Him. Judas experienced overwhelming guilt after his betrayal, but instead of running to Jesus, he ran away from Him. Peter also failed Jesus, but Peter ran back to the Lord and was restored. When you fail, don’t allow shame to convince you that God no longer wants you. His grace is always available to those who turn back to Him.
3. Build healthy habits before the storm comes. Develop a lifestyle of prayer, worship, and time in God’s Word while life is going well. Surround yourself with mature believers who will encourage you and speak truth into your life. The habits you build in peaceful seasons will strengthen you when difficult seasons arrive.
One of the things I’ve seen in life is that no one plans to drift away from God. It usually begins with small decisions that seem insignificant at the time. A missed quiet time here, an offense left unresolved there, a little compromise that doesn’t seem like a big deal. Before long, the heart begins moving farther from the One who loves us most.
I’ve also discovered that the best time to strengthen my relationship with God isn’t when I’m already in a crisis. It’s before the crisis ever comes. It’s a lot like charging your phone. Most of us don’t wait until it completely dies before plugging it in. Somehow, we convince ourselves that one percent battery is plenty until it suddenly isn’t! Our spiritual lives work much the same way. Daily time with God keeps our hearts full long before we reach empty.
The beautiful difference between Judas and Peter wasn’t that one failed and the other didn’t. They both failed. The difference was where they ran afterward. Peter ran toward Jesus. Judas ran away from Him. That choice made all the difference.
Today I want to encourage you to decide now where you will run when life becomes overwhelming. Don’t wait until you’re standing at your breaking point to determine your response. Build your life on a daily relationship with Jesus. Bring Him your disappointments, your questions, your fears, and even your failures. Stay close to His Word, surround yourself with people who will strengthen your faith, and never allow shame to keep you from His presence. Whatever you’re facing today, Jesus is still the safest place to run. His grace is greater than your greatest failure, His peace is stronger than your deepest struggle, and His love is always waiting to welcome you home.
Today’s scripture reading: Mark 14:1-11
1 After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.
2 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.”
3 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.
4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted?
5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply.
6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me.
7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.
8 She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.
9 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.
11 And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.
Journal:
- What situations or pressures tend to push me toward my breaking point?
- Are there any small offenses or disappointments that I’ve allowed to remain in my heart?
- When I fail, do I naturally run toward Jesus or away from Him?
- What daily habits am I building now that will strengthen me during difficult seasons?
- Who are the people in my life that encourage me to stay close to God when life becomes challenging?
The Daily Dose 