Hi everyone,
Sharing a devotional with you from Mark 1:35-39 – One Thing Above the Rest
35 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. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
When Jesus’ ministry was flourishing and He was gaining more and more fame by the day, Jesus went away to a solitary place to pray. The disciples even had to look for Him because He disappeared. According to them, Jesus wasn’t where He was supposed to be. He was needed in the village and not in the middle of nowhere. However notice how Jesus answered them. After spending time with His Father, Jesus said He must leave and continue to preach elsewhere. He must leave. Jesus knew exactly why He has come and what He must do. He focuses on His goal and purpose instead of letting His popularity, His fame and the successes of life to lose sight of that. All Jesus really wanted to do is to submit to His Father which is the one thing He holds on to above the rest. Jesus continued to be obedient to His Father.
In the same way, when we experience ministry success, do we continue to spend time in prayer and seek the very will of God? If God is calling us to move on to something else, we will continue to submit to His will even though we may lose out on many “benefits” we get to have if we stayed. These temptations could hinder us from following God. Jesus can put all of that behind Him because He is focused on one thing above the rest which is His obedience to His Father. May we learn from Jesus that no matter how successful a ministry is, no matter how needed or attached we are to something, let us focus on the Holy Spirit and continue to submit to where He wants to lead us. Let us not let anything derail us from what the Father wants, the One whom we are to place above the rest.
Blessings,
Kelsey