Prepare for Eastert

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

About My Father’s Business:

A Lenten Devotional Guide

But passing through their midst, he went away. And he went down to Capernaum.... Luke 4:30-31 ESV

The Bible has a way of making things sound so simple and because of this, we often miss opportunities to understand the magnitude of God’s work. Don’t miss the understatement in the above text. It sounds as if Jesus just walked over to the next village, but Capernaum is a long way from Nazareth and the road was not easy. The only time we read of Jesus riding anywhere is when he rode a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. His message was so important that he moved from city to city on foot, teaching as he went. That in itself is tiring, but add to the walking the emotional energy involved in ministering to people who crowded around him everywhere he went – all day. Jesus was no weak human being!

You’re probably thinking that he was also God, and he could manage the demands on himself. True, but we must not allow ourselves to forget that he was absolutely man as well. I don’t see any indication that he “took the weekend off.” No indication he went fishing with Peter and Andrew. The only times we see him at leisure are at the wedding at Cana, when he goes away for prayer, or when he sleeps. He was always going – from city to city, from need to need. Jesus was a man with a purpose – his Father’s business.

If he is our role model and we are his disciples, we have to ask, “Are we willing to be inconvenienced, willing to walk?” The disciples became men with a purpose. Are we now or are we becoming people with a purpose? If so, can we articulate that purpose?

Father, thank you for Jesus’ great determination and strength. When we feel weary, remind us of our purpose and keep us going. 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