40 Days... Day 8

Good Afternoon Church,
Today is day 8 on our 40 day journey to bring ourselves closer to God. Today has been a very full day, but nothing like the day Jesus was having in this passage…

Matthew 14:13,23-2713Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.

23After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. 25And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."

Mark 6:46
46After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray

When your day has been so full and all you really want to do is to just go to bed, or read, or just watch the game, what can help? The answer can be found in the example of Jesus. Read a little extra in this chapter and you will find out that Jesus had just found out about the death of His cousin, John the Baptist. This would be a lot for most of us to handle and still keep everything together. Then as Jesus is headed for some quite time He is followed by a very large crowd of people. Most of us would have just disappeared, but Jesus makes the decision to put His own pain and needs aside and take care of them by providing them with food. Then He sends His disciples on ahead in the boat before personally dismissing the crowd. I can imagine this was not a simple “get out” but a much more personal farewell. At this point I would think any one of us would be just too tired to go on, instead Jesus goes to the mountain to spend some time with God the Father. What an awesome example. Tonight spend some time with God and see if He can take some of the burden off you and lift your load?

By the way, Jesus’ day did not end with His time with God on the mountain. He then went walking across the lake and spent some quality time with Peter…but that in another story.