“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.” Mark 1:33
It’s beginning to look a lot like…
You fill in the blank. A lot like Thanksgiving…Christmas..busy…full…Christmas programs, cookie swaps, lists, lists, lists?
Jesus knows busy. Look at his time in Mark 1 starting at verse 21
Teaching in the synagogue
Healing a demon possessed man
Visit to Simon Peter’s house and healing Peter’s mother-in-law
Then an evening filled with many sick and demon possessed. The whole town gathered at the door and Jesus healed many…v 33
Then verse 35: Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up…Another day had begun for Jesus. More doors would open, people needing him, a mission to live well.
Busy is real. It’s what we do before the busy that can shape us. What shapes you before the busy? What do you and I do before the busy begins is what gives us strength, perspective, priorities.
Starting or ending the day with words from our compassionate God will help restore His image in us.
Lectio 365 is a daily devotional app that has a regular phrase that starts the devotional: “As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly, to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.”
Pausing on that phrase “to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God” every morning, reminds me I am scattered. But coming into the presence of God Almighty, Jesus my Savior, and the Holy Spirit, my comforter, I can re-center. I can become new again, pliable and surrendered for the day.
That is what Jesus did regularly, often, alone, intentionally. And Jesus was able to finish all the work on earth God had given him. (John 17:4)
What’s at your door today…in your home, at your work station, your car or public transport, your to do list? Are you ready? Jesus is waiting at your heart’s door, ready to come and sit with you.
P.S. Did you get stuck on ‘re-centre’. The writers of Lectio 365 are from the UK and so it is ‘re-centre.’