Down time

June 23, 2009

The life of Jesus. Read Today: Jesus prays alone; Matthew 14:22-23; Mark 6:45-47; John 6:15

Solitude, it is both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Because when all is quiet, there is no TV blaring, no radio telling us things, no MP3 players giving us the latest music, then we are by ourselves and without distractions, we have to look into ourselves, or talk to God. And either one of those can be scary.

When we take time to reflect who we are we may see someone who we do not really like. We may try to justify it, say it is the way we have to be to survive. Maybe even say that our life partner is not living up to their end of the deal so we have to be the way we are. But then we take the time to talk to God about it. God does not take the excuses we make. Sure we can make them explanations, but that will never justify behavior that goes against what God's Word teaches.

Matthew 14:22-23(NIV)

22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.

23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

Jesus knew that the importance of the time alone. He got away from the crowds and thought and prayed. He looked to His Father for guidance in what must be done. I am sure that there are times that he did not want to hear what he was hearing, but he did it anyway. Likewise, when God speaks to us in our time of quiet, we need to listen and do as well.

Read for tomorrow: Jesus walks on water; Matthew 14:24-27; Mark 6:48-52; John 6:16-21

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