100 Percent Faithful – Today’s Youth Devotion

100 Percent Faithful

Bible Reading: Mark 16: 1-11

He has been raised from the dead . .. just as he told you before he died! Mark 16:6-7

“I MEANT WHAT I said, and I said what I meant; an elephant is faithful one hundred percent.” Recognize those immortal words?

If you’re a Dr. Seuss fan; you’ll know those words of Horton the elephant. In Horton’s story, a mother bird complains to Horton that she is tired of waiting for her eggs to hatch. Goodhearted Horton agrees to take her place on the nest while the mother bird flies off for a vacation.

Days pass while Horton keeps watch atop the nest. Opportunity after opportu­nity tempts him to ditch his post, but each time he responds firmly with his commit­ted words: “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant; an elephant is faithful one hundred percent.”

Finally the mother bird returns to the nest, Horton’s duty is done, and the baby birds are hatched. The moral of the story? Like Horton, you should be faithful to do what you say you will do. That’s often tough to do.

Mark 16 opens with the stupendous news that Jesus meant what he said and said what he meant about coming back to life after his crucifixion. From the disciples’ point of view, things looked darker than the inside of the tomb. Their loving teacher had been brutally executed. And now they feared that they would be killed for fol­lowing him. Nothing in the Bible tells us the disciples either remembered or believed Jesus’ prediction in Mark 9:31 that he would rise from the dead. They were grieving over their great loss.

When some of the women who had followed Jesus arrived at the tomb, they were astonished to find the huge stone rolled away-not to mention Jesus’ body missing and an angel waiting to tell them that the Savior was alive, “just as he told you before he died” (Mark 16:7). True to form, when the disciples heard the news, “they didn’t believe her” (verse 11). If you had watched your friend and leader die the  no-doubt-about-it death of crucifixion, you might have had a hard time believing the truth of his resurrection too.

But Jesus meant what he said and said what he meant. He conquered death, burst out of the tomb, and lives today as Lord and King.

Jesus has never failed to keep a promise. Every promise in Scripture is made by the one who keeps his Word 100 percent.

REFLECT: How does Christ’s keeping his promise to rise from the dead make all of his other promises more believable to you?

PRAY: Ask God to help you trust his Word. Talk about times it’s tough to trust.