A mind set on God's Interests

Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ was one of his "finest moments" yet it was followed by one of his worst. Jesus began to share how he would be delivered over to the authorities and killed and then rise again and Peter would have none of that talk. Jesus soundly rebuked Peter and among other things said, "...you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but on man's" (Mk.8:33). This made me stop and think how often it is that I am prone to set my mind on man's interests and not God's. When things don't go my way, life is difficult, hardships come, disappointment, economic woes, people disappoint, work is discouraging, people let me down, encouragement is scarce, and I don't perform as I want. Jesus went on to give us a hint as to just what He was talking about by mind set on God's interests in the next few verses. A life of sacrifice in service for Him. "If anyone wishes to come after me, let Him deny Himself, take up His cross and follow me"(Mk.8:34). A call to deny ourselves, to die to self and to follow Christ, to make Him Lord of all. To lose our lives--to sacrifice what we look to as a source of satisfaction--for Him will mean that we gain life. Lord, help me keep my mind focused on your interests today.