Mark 1:35-39

Passage

Early the next day – before the sun was even up – Jesus heads out into an absolutely deserted place in order to pray.  Simon (Peter) and the rest of the people who were His disciples at the time search for Him.  When they find Him, Peter tells Jesus that everyone is looking for Him.  Jesus gives Peter a different agenda.  Jesus tells Peter that they must move on and go to other towns, because Jesus was sent to get His message out.  So they head out throughout all of Galilee while preaching and casting out demons.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus gets up early to spend time with God.  This is important because you will remember that Jesus had a busy day on the prior day.  Jesus went home with His disciples, healed Peter’s mother-in-law, and then healed everyone who was brought to Him.  If anyone needed to sleep in, it was Jesus on this morning.  But Jesus understands and acts upon a spiritual truth.  There is more to being refreshed than simply getting good sleep.  One must be in tune with God to truly feel refreshed.

How would you describe the kind of refreshment that comes from God?  Where do you find the refreshment that Jesus seems to find in prayer? 

Second Thought:

Peter and the rest of the disciples searched for Jesus.  Clearly, they were curious as to where He was.  However, they are also demonstrating a spiritual truth – consciously or subconsciously we don’t know.  They understand that they had just decided to follow Jesus.  They left their former lives to follow Jesus.  So when they can’t find Jesus, they look for Him!  They don’t go back to their old way of living.  They look for Jesus when they can’t find Him.

Have you ever been in a time or a place in your life where you didn’t feel like you could find Jesus?  In those times, how easy is it to simply give up and go back to the former things that we tried to leave behind when we set out to follow Jesus?

Third Thought:

Jesus tells them that it is time to leave.  Jesus didn’t come to save Capernaum; Jesus came to save the world.  Jesus doesn’t want to just focus on one place regardless of how well that place responds to Him!  Jesus came for the sake of the world, and His disciples needed to learn that what is important is going out into the world.  Those who follow Jesus are missional and discipleship focused by our very nature.

How easy is it to stay where we are safe and secure in life?  What happens to us when we “go?”  What happens to the world if we are content to stay where we are safe and secure?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 1:40-42