Daily Devotional For Monday, October 26, 2026

Good morning Southside! I am following the One Year Chronological Bible reading suggestion and any Bible verses you see highlighted in bold (ex. John 3:16), means it is a link to that verse. All you have to do is click on the reference and it will take you to the verse online. Our daily devotional for today comes from the words of Jesus found in Mark 12:28-34. This passage is also found in Matthew 22:37-40. To me, in Mark’s account, verse 34 is usually overlooked but is most important – “You are not far from the Kingdom of God” (NLT).

Few people have impacted history like Jesus, but John Wesley coming to faith was one of the most historical events ever in the Western world. John was born in 1703. He was the 15th child of Samuel and Suzanna Wesley, where he went on to study at Oxford. He went on to join his brother Charles to be an “evangelist” – I have this word in italics because John Wesley writes he was not saved at this point. 

He was also good friends with George Whitfield, who was sent on to be a great evangelist. He met with these men to study the Bible, Greek, do devotional exercises and fast and pray. In 1735 he accepted an invitation to be a missionary to the American Indians in Georgia. He failed at this. He would later write, “I went to America to convert the Indians, but who was going to convert me?” On his return trip to England aboard ship he met some German Moravian Christians whose simple faith impressed him. He said he was convinced he was lost and then on the morning of May 24, 1738, Wesley writes he haphazardly opened his Bible and it opened to Mark 12:34. Wesley said these words reassured him and this would become Wesley’s life verse.

In Jesus’ response, He quotes from the Mosaic Law in Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18. Every Jewish man wore what were called phalactaries on their foreheads with these 2 verses in them. They also would have a little box on the outside of their doors called a Muzzah with these verses in them. The Deut. 6:5 is called The Shema, because “shema” is the Hebrew word for “hear.” And Deut. 6:5 begins with the word “hear.” 

Until Jesus, this was the first time any Rabbi had put these two verses together. In giving us this, first, Jesus summarized the 10 Commandments. Second, Jesus also demonstrated that love for God cannot be divorced from loving others. They go together as a pair. Third, Jesus demonstrated that a healthy love for self is essential to one’s life. 

John Wesley was one of 19 children and his mother was a very godly mother. She spent individual time with each of her 19 children to raise them, to teach them and to disciple them along with her husband. She was one of 25 children herself from her parents. New Testament scholar William Barclay writes this:

“The rest of the story is well-known history. Wesley became a dynamo. He preached in Saint Mary’s in Oxford. He preached in the churches. He preached in the mines. He preached in the fields and on the streets. He preached on horseback. He even preached on his father’s tombstone. John Wesley didn’t tire! John Wesley preached 42,000 sermons. He averaged 4,500 miles a year. He rode sixty to seventy miles a day and preached three sermons a day on an average. When he was eighty-three, he wrote in his diary, “I am a wonder to myself, I am never tired, either with preaching, writing, or travelling!” (Source: William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series, “The Letters to the Corinthians,” p. 289).

What are the lessons for us here? New Testament scholar R. Kent Hughes gives us some lessons to consider:

• “It is possible to grow up in the church, to have consistent godly parents and never have come to Christ.
• It is also possible to study theology like Wesley and never be a true Christian disciple.
• It is possible to have heard the grace of the Gospel preached your whole life and still be relying on your own goodness.
• It is possible to be so hardened to the Gospel and seal your damnation within the church.
• It is possible to be within an inch of the Gospel and still miss the Kingdom of God” (Source: R. Kent Hughes, Preach The Word, “Jesus, Servant And Savior,” Vol. 2, p. 120).

Reflection Assignment: Are you near to the Kingdom of God, but not in? There are times when a single step makes all the difference. When a man or woman stands at the entrance to an airplane, one step and they are on the way to a new destination. But if they stay inactive, they will never go anywhere. Look over the 5 lessons above, do any of these reflect you or someone you know who claims to be a Christian?

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Chronicles 28:9, “Learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve Him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek Him, you will find Him. But if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I want to love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength and I want to love others as You do. I do not want to be within an inch of the Gospel and miss it. I do not want my heart to be hardened to You for anything. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly