Yesterday I was shopping, cleaning, cooking – preparing for family who would arrive from out-of-town for a week-long visit. I multi-tasked, prepping everything along with all the regular “stuff” of life like meetings and writing assignments.
Creating time and space to connect with friends or family takes discipline and intentionality, but as we sat with dessert on the patio last night, I thought, how sweet the rewards.
It’s easy to go on “auto-pilot” with relationships, especially with Jesus who is so…polite. He never pushes His way in. Never demands time with us. He waits for us to come to Him.
Last week I introduced some devotional cards a friend and I have created around this theme, “Come”.
This morning, here’s the card I sat with.
If you are a mom of toddlers, or a boss, or a planning an event, I know you can relate to these words!
This verse comes after a very full 24 hours of ministry. Jesus gets up early and goes off alone to pray.
In Mark1 there are three places Jesus uses the word “Come” – each of them very different in context, but each of them speak to me of a reason why it was so important for Him, in the midst of crazy busy, to be alone with His Father. Here are three reasons for us to come to Him too:
- Imitate and Model
In Mark 1:17 Jesus calls the disciples, “Come follow me.”
Jesus invited (and invites) people to follow Him, but even He needed to be replenished in order to continue to lead.
People are watching us. They are following us. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul writes, “So imitate me, watch my ways, follow my example, just as I, too, always seek to imitate the Anointed One.”
2. Power up
In Mark 1:25 Jesus defies evil, casting out a demon, saying with confidence, “Be quiet! Come out of him.”
When we spend time with Jesus we are reminded that this same authority that gave Him power, lives in us through His Holy Spirit. We may be weak, but “greater is He who is in [us] than he who is in the world.”
3. Remember
In Mark 1:38 When the disciples find Jesus He says they will all head to some nearby villages for Him to preach because “That is why I have come.”
Time alone with the Lord grounds us and reminds us of our purpose. As I read God’s Word He tells me again who I am and whose I am.
Which of these do you need most this morning?
Do you know a graduate or a friend who might like a month’s worth of cards inviting them to come away with Jesus?
