welcome to today's encouragement from our daily bread I'm sure soon Holmberg and I titled our reading Choose Wisely
 astronaut Chris Ferguson made a difficult decision as the commander of the flight crew scheduled for a journey to the International Space Station
 but that decision didn't have anything to do with the mechanics of flight or the safety of his fellow astronauts instead it pertained to what he considers his most important work his family
 Ferguson opted to keep his feet planted firmly on Earth so he could be present for his daughter's wedding
 we all face difficult decisions at times decisions that caused us to evaluate what matters most to us in life because one option comes at the expense of the other
 Jesus aimed to communicate this truth to his disciples and a crowd of onlookers regarding Vice most important decision to follow him
 to be a disciple he said would require them to deny themselves in order to walk with him they might have been tempted to spare themselves the sacrifices required a following Christ and instead seek their own desires but he reminded them it would come at the price of that which matters much more
 we are often tempted to pursue things that seem of Great Value yet they distract us from following Jesus
 let's ask God to guide us in the choices we face each day so we'll Choose Wisely and honor him
 today's our daily bread devotional scripture reading is from Mark chapter 8 verses 34 to 38
 then he called The Crowd to him along with his disciples and said whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me for whoever wants to save their life will lose it but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it
 what good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul
 if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation the son of man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his father's Glory with the Holy Angels
 let's pray
 Jesus we want to walk with you please help us to recognize and choose the pads that will Foster a deeper connection to you
 it's in your name that we pray amen
 thanks for listening today my name is Kirsten Holmberg and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries