Time Out

"And when He (Jesus) had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray."-Matthew 14:23

You awake in the morning and life hits you before your feet touch the ground. Your mind is already hard at work solving the problems of your world. There are children or grandchildren to care for, or the needs of a spouse to meet, or a job to prepare for, or a home that needs maintenance, or a neighbor that needs scolding for cutting down your favorite tree, or a car that needs fixing, or a pile of mail or emails that need tending. There are friends to call or charities to help, exams to prepare for, or employment to search for. All of these thoughts load up within your mind even before your lips have touched their first sip of coffee.

The world keeps spinning, and most days it feels like you are running as fast as you can on a monstrous-sized treadmill just trying to keep up. From morning 'til night, we are busy all day long. Yet in Matthew 14:23, we find a gem to live by. It's one of those verses in the Bible that does not speak of miraculous healings, or waters parting, but of an even more profound truth that we ALL need to live by: "...when Jesus had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray."

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God - if anyone in history ever had a direct hotline to God, it was Jesus. He could have stood in the middle of the crowds and busied himself from morning 'til night tending to the tremendous needs of the world around Him, and yet He slipped away in solitude to pray; to spend time with His Heavenly Father in prayer. If Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, found it necessary to spend time alone in prayer with God, what more motivation do you need?

Get off the worldwide treadmill for a little while each day to go off alone and get on your knees before God. I promise you, the world will get along just fine without you for twenty or thirty minutes each day. Go spend some time with your Heavenly Father!

Prayer:
Almighty God, thank You for reminding me that there is no more important time in my day than the time I spend with You! In Jesus' precious name, I pray. Amen.