100 Percent Faithful – Today’s Family 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’s faithful one hundred per cent!”

If you’re a crazed Dr. Seuss fan, you know those words come from Horton the el­ephant in Horton Hatches the Egg. In this story, a mother bird tells Horton how tired she gets sitting on her egg waiting for it to hatch. Good-hearted Horton agrees to take her place on the nest while the mother bird flies off for a short vacation.

Days pass while Horton keeps watch atop the nest. Over and over Horton is tempted to quit his job, but each time he responds: “I meant what I said and I said what I meant. … An elephant’s faithful one hundred per cent.”

Finally the mother bird returns to the nest, Horton’s duty is done, and the baby bird emerges. What’s the moral of the story? Like Horton, we should faithfully do what we promise.

That can be hard to do. But God keeps his word perfectly.

Mark 16 opens with the news that Jesus “meant what he said and said what he meant” about coming back to life after his death on the cross. From the disciples’ point of view, things looked pretty dark. Their loving teacher had been put to death on a cross. And now they hid for fear that they too would be killed.

Nothing in the Bible tells us the disciples remembered or believed Jesus’ predic­tion in Mark 9:31 that he would rise from the dead. They were “grieving and weep­ing.” When some of the women who had followed Jesus arrived at the tomb, they were astonished to find the huge stone rolled away—and Jesus’ body missing! Yet an angel told them that the Savior was alive, “just as he told you before he died” (Mark 16:7). When the disciples heard the news from Mary Magdalene, “they didn’t believe her” (verse 11).

If we had watched our friend and leader die on a cross, we would have had a hard time believing he was alive. But Jesus meant what he said. He conquered death, burst out of the tomb, and lives today as Lord and King.

Jesus has never failed to keep a promise. We can rest assured that every promise in Scripture is made by the One who keeps his word 100 percent. And Jesus rising from the dead is our proof. That’s a great reason to trust!

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

PRAY: God, we believe your Word. Help us to trust you even when the world seems dark.

ACT: Do you ever have a hard time taking God at his word? Talk to a more mature Christian about your questions.