Friday, March 6, 2020
About My
Father’s Business:
A Lenten Devotional Guide
Be still and know that I am God. . . . Psalm 46:10 NIV
I am such a
do-er! I have difficulty watching TV if my hands are not doing something
constructive. Sitting in quiet contemplation is not easy. I realized just how
difficult when I took the Companions in
Christ class with Marilyn Watson. It was hard to be still!
As I have
been examining the text for things to teach us about what kind of business
Jesus was in during his brief three years of public ministry, I have been
surprised. Jesus spent much time going among the people, healing the sick,
delivering the oppressed, revealing by his words and actions what God is like.
However, he spent at least equal time in quiet conversation with the twelve or
on a mountain alone with God, or in the garden in prayer.
Jesus spent
time with those he was teaching and with God. He made time for teaching,
healing, and ministering. We do it the other way around. We try to make
time for God, and spend time doing everything else. A close look at
Jesus’ three years of ministry reveals clearly that we have our priorities wrong.
There’s much
to do in the church, and we work hard at being all we can for each other and
the community. But I wonder if Jesus would not like for us to put the quiet
time with him first and the work for him afterward. I’m sure he is prodding me
to make intimate fellowship with him a big part of my being about the Father’s
business. Makes sense to me because I know that it is in the quiet times that I
hear him best.
Father, help us make prayer a top
priority. Amen
About My Father’s Business:
A
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church of Homosassa, Florida
Spring 2010
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator
No comments:
Post a Comment