Day 7: Mark 1:35-39

The Gospel of Mark is action packed from the very beginning. There’s John the Baptist, the calling of the first disciples, and multiple healings all in the first few verses. But I love that Mark included this incident. When the disciples came and found him, they said, “Everyone’s been looking for you.” Jesus’ response is basically, “Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m out here.”

Jesus knew that he had a lot to do and just a small amount of time to do it. Mark’s Gospel sets a break-neck speed for the story of Jesus, but Jesus knew there was something more important. He knew that he needed to have time alone to seek the guidance of his Father, and to refresh the Spirit within himself. And this wasn’t the only time that we see Jesus go off by himself to pray. 

We’ve already seen how Jesus went into the desert by himself to fast and pray before his ministry began in Matthew 4. Luke 6:12 says, “Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.” Soon after he called together all of his disciples and chose the 12  apostles. Matthew 14:13 tells us that after Jesus heard the news of the death of John the Baptist “he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone.” And then after feeding the 5,000 later in that chapter, verse 23 says, “After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.” And the night he was betrayed, Jesus took the 12 disciples over to the Garden of Gethsemane where he told them in Mark 14:32, “Sit here while I go and pray.” Luke 5:16 tells us that “Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.”

Sometimes we can get so busy doing all the things, even the good things, that we don’t take time for the most important thing. We need to make sure and follow the example of Jesus in this as well. Don’t ever let your calling overtake your relationship. If Jesus took time to be alone with God in the middle of all the craziness that surrounded him during his ministry, how much more do we need to do the same thing? 

Set a time that works for you. Find a Bible reading plan that you can follow. Pray before you read and ask God to show you something that will affect your day. Take notes or journal when you read. And then spend a little more time in prayer asking God to help you implement what you just read into your daily life.If your relationship with God isn’t first, then nothing else will be sustainable.