"And in the morning, a great while before day, he (Jesus) rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed."* This passage from Mark is so interesting to me. Jesus prayed, took time apart to talk things over with God. He rose early to do this, so it was something Jesus did not want to get swept aside by the business of the day.
Jesus did live in a way that is a good example for us even today, So often we think about Jesus "not sinning" but it is also about what Jesus did, how He lived His life, how He interacted with His follower, disciples, family members and those who opposed Him.
There is a lot of wisdom and insight about a lot of topics in what is reported about the teachings of Jesus, but the whole area of how Jesus lived has been less obvious to me. Yet every interaction was filled with love and patience for a very frustrating human race. It is striking to see how Jesus spoke with those who challenged His teachings, to Judas even as he was betraying Him, to Peter to help him deal with Peter's denial, how tender He was to His mother and John from the cross, His tears at Lazarus's death and resurrection.
Day to day, month to month, all the years on Earth He loved, lead, instructed, explained and challenged His followers to become more....more in relationship with God, more tender towards God's other children, more trusting and more courageous. And when He returned to the Father, He promised to send the Spirit of God to continue that work in and for us.
No other understanding of God, no other "religion" if you will, embraces such teachings, offers such relationship with a living God who meets us where we are and tends and nurtures and loves and listens.
If prayer was important to Jesus on earth, surely we also need to avail ourselves of this opportunity every day.
* Mark 1:35
Jesus did live in a way that is a good example for us even today, So often we think about Jesus "not sinning" but it is also about what Jesus did, how He lived His life, how He interacted with His follower, disciples, family members and those who opposed Him.
There is a lot of wisdom and insight about a lot of topics in what is reported about the teachings of Jesus, but the whole area of how Jesus lived has been less obvious to me. Yet every interaction was filled with love and patience for a very frustrating human race. It is striking to see how Jesus spoke with those who challenged His teachings, to Judas even as he was betraying Him, to Peter to help him deal with Peter's denial, how tender He was to His mother and John from the cross, His tears at Lazarus's death and resurrection.
Day to day, month to month, all the years on Earth He loved, lead, instructed, explained and challenged His followers to become more....more in relationship with God, more tender towards God's other children, more trusting and more courageous. And when He returned to the Father, He promised to send the Spirit of God to continue that work in and for us.
No other understanding of God, no other "religion" if you will, embraces such teachings, offers such relationship with a living God who meets us where we are and tends and nurtures and loves and listens.
If prayer was important to Jesus on earth, surely we also need to avail ourselves of this opportunity every day.
* Mark 1:35
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