Week 2
"And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. 40 And a leper[h] came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus[i] sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter."
When I was in seminary I had a lawn mowing and tree trimming business. During the spring and summer I had 54 lawns to mow each week. All I had was a push mower, a weed-eater, and a blower so I spent lots of hours and some long days working. I was younger then (and thinner for some reason!) but I really enjoyed that type of work. After a day in class there was something therapeutic about the physical exercise and the monotony of the job. There wasn’t a lot of mental activity involved, all I had to do was keep pushing that mower and I would have success! Mowing lawns had its time and place, but the Lord had plans for me beyond the neighborhoods of Fort Worth. Jesus had just spent what seems to have been a long day in ministry to others. He had spent his time healing folks and casting out demons. The whole city was coming to him and he was having success. Yet he found it necessary to get away to a lonely place early the next morning before sunrise to talk to the Father. It is clear from the context that Jesus received direction from the Father to move away from that location and shift his focus from healing to evangelism in spite of the fact that Jesus had had much ministry success where he was staying. The Father had other areas that needed evangelizing and other people that needed healing. The point is that often we just keep “pushing the mower” spiritually speaking. We may be having spiritual success where we are but we, like Jesus, ought to pray and ask God for direction. There may be other areas that need serving or another type of ministry that he desires for you to work in. If Jesus saw the need to take time to withdraw and pray for direction so should we. Take time and pray.