This is one of my favorite things about the way Jesus lived His life. Time and time again, we see that He gives of Himself completely to others, pouring out His love and power in their lives. Then He makes it a priority to take time to be alone with His Father.
- to pray
- to know His heart
- to stay connected so that He is sure to be constantly doing the Father's will
- to be refilled, refreshed, restored after pouring Himself out to all those He touched and healed
If you read a few verses before this verse, and then consider the timing of His prayer time, it's obvious how necessary and what a priority prayer time was to Jesus. The Bible says (in Mark 1) that that day, He was up and around early, teaching in the synagogue and healing people. Then, at sunset, the whole town gathered, and they began to bring the sick and the afflicted to Him to be healed and cleansed. If they didn't start until after sundown, and if the whole town was gathered there, surely it was very late by the time they finished. And remember, He had already been up all day. Still, verse 35 tells us that 'long before sunrise' Jesus went off on His own to pray. I wonder, did He even sleep at all? If so, it couldn't have been for long. He must have been physically very tired, and still it was more important to Him to have time alone with His Father.
I am SO not there yet. This is a definite weakness of mine, and a continual struggle for me. I'm challenged at least 4 times a week to get up early before everyone is awake to read and pray. Yet, so often, 4 times a week, I choose to sleep a little longer and I give up that opportunity.
Mark 1:38 - And He said to them, Let us be going on into the neighboring country towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.
This is another of my favorite characteristics of Jesus: He did not get wrapped up in doing what others expected or wanted of Him. He didn't allow others to pull Him off track from doing His Father's will. It is my prayer that God would continue to work in me until I am at a place where I value His approval and His will far above the approval or expectations of any person.
Mark 1:31 - And He went up to her and took her by the hand and raised her up; and the fever left her, and she began to wait on them.
Mark 1:40-41 - And a leper came to Him, begging Him on his knees and saying to Him, If You are willing, You are able to make me clean. And being moved with pity and sympathy, Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, and said to him, I am willing; be made clean!
At first I skipped over this, but as I continued reading, I realize that this verse gives an example of yet another endearing quality of Jesus, which is very simply that He is engaging and personal. He went up to her, touched her, took her by the hand, and healed her. Other examples in Scripture show us clearly that Jesus has the capacity to heal without even being present - clearly no physical contact is required for Him to bring about healing in a person's life. I realized as I was reading this, and also as I was reading the story of the leper who was healed, that the element of physical touch was probably for no other purpose than to engage and make intimate contact with the person on the receiving end. Imagine what that touch from Jesus must have meant to the leper - a man who, by the nature of his disease, had surely not been touched by another human being for what must have seemed like a lifetime. Jesus touching him was a profound demonstration of His extreme love, and His desire for intimacy with those whom He came to save. I love that about Him. I love that He is willing to go out of His way, to do what is unnecessary, simply to make someone else feel really recognize how much they are loved and how important they are to Him. He's awesome.
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