Mark Chapter 1
By Pastor Chris
THE EARLY BIRD …
Do you ever feel like life has gotten a little cluttered?
Like there is so much to do that sometimes you are not sure how you will ever accomplish it all? Even with all the smart phone apps out there intended to us get “organized” and “connected” it seems that many times they only add to our list of responsibilities. We live our lives at breakneck speeds with so much happening at times it becomes difficult to even enjoy all that is going on.
The first chapter in the book of Mark is stuffed with several huge events in the life of Jesus. In order he: is baptized by John the Baptist, announced to be the Son of God, led to the wilderness to be tempted, calls his first disciples, teaches in the synagogue, drives out a demon, heals Peter’s mother and when literally the whole town shows up on his doorstep with their sick he heals them too!
What is Jesus’ response to this sequence of H-U-G-E life events?
A vacation?
No way.
Well, then a long weekend, he deserved it.
Nope.
He sleeps in though, right?
No … Mark 1:35 says that “very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
We might think we have a lot going on, and in some ways we do, but Jesus just went through this barrage of H-U-G-E events in his life and in the free moments he finds to himself what does he do? Jesus steals time away to be alone with God and pray. Time with God was an essential part of who he was and what he did. Jesus had to MAKE time by waking up before everyone else to find a place to be alone.
The same is true of each one of us. The way we live out our lives is largely determined by our dedication to spending time with God each day. We get swamped with work/school/family so quickly. We have to be intentional in MAKING daily time to find a secluded place and pray.
There is something pretty funny that happens in Mark 1 as Jesus is alone praying; his disciples are searching for him. There was more work to be done! Take the moments you find daily to pray, read scripture, and reflect on the presence of God in your life because there is sure to be something demanding your time and attention soon!
What takes you away from daily time with God?
What are ways you can intentionally MAKE time, even small amounts of time, to spend in prayer, study, and reflection?
