“And he appointed 12 whom he also named apostles so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.”
– Mark 3:14
Mark 3:14 oh, that is a verse worth memorizing. I remember when I was leading the International Mission Board, International Mission Organization with thousands of missionaries around the world, everyone who went through training before they went out memorized that verse, “He appointed 12 whom he also named apostles, so that” …why did she just appoint these disciples? This is awesome, “So that they might be with him.”
Lord, we praise You for the privilege of being with You. May we revel in deep communion with You and open our mouths preaching Christ and Him crucified.
So they might be with him. You are appointed. Called as a follower of Christ, to be with Christ. This is first and foremost. This is fundamental. You and I, just think about this wherever you are right now, if you’re a follower of Jesus, you are appointed by God to be with God, called by Jesus, to be with Jesus, to spend time with Jesus, to hear his word, to meditate on what He has said, to lift your heart to Him in prayer, just to be with Him.
And then, sent out to preach, to make this good news known to everybody around us, that other people can be with God. You can be forgiven of your sin. You can be reconciled to a relationship with God. And you can be with Him. You can know God. You can know God forever. Oh, Jesus, we praise you for the privilege of being with you. Yes, yes, yes. We praise you for appointing us to this. Even right now, as we pray the fact that we are communing with you, King, Lord, Sovereign, ruler of the universe, creator of all, that we are with you right now, communing with you.
Mark 3:14 Reminds Us How Jesus Has Sent Us
You’re hearing us. We’re speaking to you, we’re lifting our hearts to you. And you are speaking to us by your spirit. You speak to us through your word. You lead us, you guide us. We praise you for the privilege of being with you and we pray that we would not neglect being with you. Lord, make us long with you. Not even just these short times in prayer, yes, I hope these are helpful for those who are listening, but may they drive us into deep communion with you.
And flowing this communion with you, send us, send us to preach. Empower us by your spirit to proclaim, share, tell others this good news. That anyone anywhere can be with God, can be with Jesus, forgiven of sin, walking in relationship with him now and walking in relationship with him forever. Thank you. Thank you, Jesus, for appointing us to be with you and sending us out to lead others, to experience the same. In your name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
