The Upload
Posted on Feb 06, 2015 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week!
Do you ever get so busy you just can’t focus? Do you ever get so busy that you forget what it is that you are supposed to be doing? I know I do, and I find it very frustrating. As I read through our Gospel text for this coming Sunday, Mark 1:29-39, I had to wonder, was Jesus so busy with healing folks that Sabbath day in Capernaum that he finally got to the point that he lost his focus for a moment? Had he been so busy healing people at Simon’s home that, for a little, while he forgot why he had come?
In this gospel story, we heard last week that Jesus began the day in the synagogue where he taught with authority, and he healed a man who had been possessed by an unclean spirit. We are told that, after that, Jesus and his disciples went to Simon’s home, and when Jesus discovered Simon’s mother-in-law was very ill, Jesus healed her. By the time evening rolled around, word had gotten out about Jesus’ ability to heal, and people from all over Capernaum came to Simon’s home to have Jesus heal them or their loved ones. Jesus must have been exhausted because we are told that, finally, in the midst of all this commotion, under the cover of darkness, Jesus snuck off to a deserted place to pray. I do that sometimes; do you? Yes, sometimes in the midst of a hectic day or in the midst of chaotic time, I need to get away and pray, and when I do, what I usually discover is that, in that time alone with God, I discover that I need to refocus. I discover that all that pointless energy I had been expending was keeping me from doing what I am truly called to do, and that is share the gospel.
When Jesus’ disciples finally found Jesus in the morning, they wanted him to go back into Capernaum to heal the people who were still looking for him. By now, though, Jesus had taken time to reconnect with his Father. He had taken time to pray, and in that time of prayer, God refocused him, and so Jesus’ response to his disciples was, no, we will not go back, it is time to move forward and go share the gospel in new places.
So often, we get bogged down in all our busyness that we fail to live out our call. We fail to live out the gospel. Have you taken time to pray today? Have you taken time to just be with God in the moment? If you have, you know how powerful and healing that time can be; if you haven’t, I pray you will take some time today to just be in the presence of God and to pray.
Have a blessed week.
Shalom,
Pastor Dave