Mark 1:35-39

Mark 1:35-39  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.  Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”  Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also.  That is why I have come.”  So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Jesus came to the world to implement God's plan of reconciliation: to preach the Father's salvation message, to die on the cross, to arise from the dead, to defeat the consequences of sin, which is death.  His daily mission consisted of speaking the words of God, casting out demons, comforting the poor, and healing the sick.  Jesus was compelled to do God's will.  After healing a blind man, Jesus told his disciples, As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.  (John 9:4)  In today's passage, He tells the disciples, Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also.  That is why I have come.  Jesus understood his calling and his mission, his purpose for living.  He could not waste time satisfying every request of every community.  He needed to move on, for there were throngs of people who needed to see the works of God and to hear the words Jesus came to speak to a fallen people.  At all times He had to be about his Father's business, his Father's will, not his own.  The same heart that beat in the boy of twelve who remained in the temple when his parents started back home beat ever more strongly in the body of Jesus now fully committed to his earthly ministry.  When his parents questioned him about causing them concern, He answered, “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”  (Luke 2:49)  Just as He expected his parents to understand, He now looks for understanding from his closest friends.  Did they not know every unction of the Spirit was his command to implement the perfect plan of God within a short period of time?  His Father had scripted his life with every step directed by the Holy Spirit.  Had they not heard words such as these: For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  (John 6:38)  All else, was mundane, unimportant, irrelevant to who He was and to his mission.  

As we view the life of our Lord and Savior, believers must ask ourselves, What has scripted our lives?  What drives our daily existence?  The answer to these questions remains vital to our spiritual wellbeing if we are to live lives with an eternal purpose.  The Bible says, people in general behave as wayward sheep.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.  (Isaiah 53:6)  We wander about without a plan, without a purpose, without a shepherd.  We live self-willed, self-absorbed lives, rarely asking the Lord where He wants us to be and what He wants us to accomplish for him and his kingdom.  We wander where our fleshly lusts and desires take us; we do what seems natural or enjoyable to us.  But there is a better way to live our lives, more systematic, more purposeful, more authentic, more satisfying.  Christ described a better foundation for living.  Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”  Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”  (John 6:28-29)  In this scripture, Jesus focussed on the reason for our existence: to do the will of God, which entails putting our total trust in Jesus Christ and his works.  Later, as James relates so well, we put feet and action to our foundational belief.  Every day, we live purposely the life of faith God has implanted in our souls through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  We put our trust in the fact that we are IN CHRIST and HE IS IN US.  Living no longer as slaves to sin and death; we are now free to do the will of the Father.  We do not go out in our own strength because we know that Jesus said, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  (Acts 1:8)  Not only do we have this power, God gifts us with many spiritual blessings.  Jesus also promised: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  (John 14:27)  We live as sheep planted by still waters and feeding in green pastures.  We know our reason for existence; we are at peace with life, strengthen by our Lord, the Great Shepherd of the sheep.

When Dad questions God about his reason for living, he always hears the same thing in his spirit: "I have work for you to do."  Of course, our friends in Christ, He  has work for each of us to do.  Jesus summed up his life by saying He had work to do and He had to be on the move.  He said, "That is why I have come.”  Recently, Mom felt the Holy Spirit spoke to her, "Be ready."  She thought this meant she should be alert for what God wanted to do in her life, ready for opportunities to share her faith, ready for unexpected happenings, ready to listen to what God might speak to her heart.  Dear friends, what does God want you to be ready to do for him?  What work does He have planned for you to do?  Is the Spirit saying to you, Let us go somewhere else; we must hurry and obey the Father's voice?  I am sure this voice is deep within you.  Christ has a purpose for your lives, and it is probably much more than you have envisioned for yourselves.  Get up, disciples, move, we must be about our Father's business.  God bless you for your willing hearts and your listening ears.  May He greatly bless your efforts today.  The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  (Luke 10:2)