The Lord Jesus came to this world for a purpose–to seek and to save the lost–and He knew that He had a limited time to make a big difference. He did not allow Himself to become distracted or waste even one moment unproductively. Mark 1:21-38 gives us a typical itinerary for Jesus’ Sabbath day as follows:
Early AM: Walk to Capernaum
Mid-AM: Preach in synagogue
Late AM: Cast demon out of a synagogue member (yes, even the devil goes to services)
Early PM: Walk to Peter’s house for lunch
Early PM: Heal Peter’s mother-in-law before lunch can be started
Mid-PM: Lunch and fellowship with the newly chosen disciples
Late PM: Knock on door…who can be knocking at this late hour???
Late PM: Open door to find the WHOLE CITY standing outside!!!
Late into the Night: Heal sick, drive out demons until everyone is prayed for.
Super early AM on first day of work week: Get up before daylight to pray
Early AM: Walk to next town to start preaching again.
And we complain about our congregation having one 2-hour service on the Lord’s Day and a pitifully attended prayer meeting mid-week??
How important is my time with the Lord (I’m preaching to myself!)? Am I willing to get up before dawn to pray? Even if I worked late the night before? Is my quiet time with the Lord the first thing on my list of daily accomplishments? I don’t know about you, but all of my toes just got stepped on…Ouch!
If Jesus set the example for us, I know I have a lot of room for improvement. It is easy to get overwhelmed with more “stuff” to do in a day than hours to do them and let our time with the Lord fall to the wayside. But our Lord’s itinerary always has time for you. If our Lord is always ready, willing and able, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to meet with us and heal and deliver us at our cry, even at the expense of His time, shouldn’t we be able to make Him a priority of our hectic day everyday? We, too, have a limited time on this earth to make an eternal difference for the Lord. And when we stand before His throne one day, what will matter more, the “stuff” we busied ourselves with everyday or the time we spent with our Lord in faithful service and devotion to Him? What you are doing for Him is important, but the time you spend with Him is even more valuable.
“Let us not grow weary in our well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:9)
Don’t give up on your time with God. It is precious to Him and productive for you. Let us devote every single day to do more for Him and less for ourselves. Then we will see great things happen–people drawn to Him, the sick healed, the oppressed delivered, and more. “I say to you, he who believes in Me…greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12)