Make Time for What is Important
Today’s reading greatly encourages me. If you are anything like me, you want to please everyone. It can be so hard to tell anyone no, but I understand that sometimes we just need to. I never want to let anyone down though, especially when what they are asking me to do is a good thing. However, in today’s reading, Jesus stepped away from a good thing to do something else. We read how they traveled from the place where Jesus was transfigured before their eyes and passed through the region of Galilee. Then, we read this small but important fact, “And he would not have anyone know it; for he was teaching his disciples…” We have read account after account that everywhere Jesus went, large crowds followed him. When he attempted to get away from the crowds, they anticipated where he was headed and ran to get there first. We are not talking about a crowd of 20-30 people either. We are told that thousands followed him. There was never a moment when he could teach his disciples the things he needed to.
Jesus didn’t travel in secret because he wanted to escape the crowds out of personal preference or a desire for comfortability. The crowds were why he had come. They were filled with those who needed to hear his message. Jesus had compassion on the lost, the broken, and the downtrodden. His turning from those same people to focus on twelve was not selfish; it was purposeful. Sometimes, we need to say no in order to say yes. There are no limits to the need we could fill in this world. There is no shortage of work for the few workers who give their lives to God. However, we need to make sure we are working where God places us. Seasons change and so does our direction of service. There was a time for Jesus to address the crowds and a time for him to buckle down and teach his disciples – the ones who would form and establish his church after he left.
The close of our reading leaves me a bit sad though. In verse 32, we are told, “But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him.” Because they were afraid of looking stupid or of letting Jesus down in some way, the disciples didn’t ask him to explain what he was trying to teach them. If they had, they might have been more prepared. Whenever we are afraid to ask, we need to (forgive me if this sounds too harsh) get over it. I have realized in my own life that every time I acted like I understood when I really didn’t, it didn’t turn out as well as it could have. It was my own pride that kept me from asking for help or asking for clarification, and I don’t want to get in my own way. James 1:5 has helped me through many times when I struggled with asking God to help me understand. It says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.” God knows the depth of our understanding. All we have to do is ask, and He will never deny us that request. When I first started writing these daily devotions and mini Bible studies, I felt very inadequate. I wasn’t too sure why God had laid it on my heart to teach other when I had so much to learn myself. I took Him at his word and started praying for understanding. I didn’t simply wake up smart one day (though that would have been pretty cool). Instead, God brought people into my life that encouraged me to study scripture in different ways. People told me of different websites for Bible study (Try BlueLetterBible.org – I love this and there is an app for your phone as well). I discovered different Bible commentators and theologians that have really helped me understand what I was reading. God wants us to understand His word. He wants us to know what His plans are. If we aren’t understanding it, all we have to do is ask. He will lead us towards understanding.
Be encouraged today. No, is not a bad word. Choosing to walk away from a path that, though heading towards a wonderful endeavor, isn’t meant for us is not a sin. There is a time for everything in our lives. Every season is not meant to last forever. Let us not be afraid to grow, to ask for directions, and to focus on what God has for us in this moment of our lives.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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