"The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray."
I've always loved Mark 1:35. It motivates me to seek God early in the morning. But I never fully appreciated it until I examined the phrase: "the next morning." So what happened the day before? The context is the key to this text. Jesus had a long day the day before. He preached a sermon. He cast out a demon. And he healed a multitude of people. As a pastor, I know how exhausting it is to simply preach an anointed sermon. It's a tremendous expenditure of physical, spiritual, and emotional energy. Can you imagine how much spiritual energy it took to cast out a demon or heal the sick. Jesus had to be absolutely exhausted. But "the next morning" he got up early to pray.
In baseball terms, Jesus hit for the cycle. In hockey terms, it was a hat trick. In horse racing terms, it was the triple crown. An anointed sermon, exorcism, and healing in one day?
So what's my point? Well, what would most of us do the day after a day like that? I'm guessing we'd sleep in. We'd kick back. We might even let down our guard a little bit. Not Jesus. He was up and at it early the next morning.
Success is a dangerous thing. For so many people, it is their undoing. They don't steward the success. They don't steward the blessing. They let down their guard and give the enemy a foothold. And that's when the blessing turns into a curse and success turns into failure. They either get satisfied or smug. They stop seeking the source of success.
Here's the bottom line: when God uses you in a powerful way, you better get up even earlier to seek Him. When God blesses you, you better pray even more. And any measure of success God gives you better result in seeking Him even more.
I've always loved Mark 1:35. It motivates me to seek God early in the morning. But I never fully appreciated it until I examined the phrase: "the next morning." So what happened the day before? The context is the key to this text. Jesus had a long day the day before. He preached a sermon. He cast out a demon. And he healed a multitude of people. As a pastor, I know how exhausting it is to simply preach an anointed sermon. It's a tremendous expenditure of physical, spiritual, and emotional energy. Can you imagine how much spiritual energy it took to cast out a demon or heal the sick. Jesus had to be absolutely exhausted. But "the next morning" he got up early to pray.
In baseball terms, Jesus hit for the cycle. In hockey terms, it was a hat trick. In horse racing terms, it was the triple crown. An anointed sermon, exorcism, and healing in one day?
So what's my point? Well, what would most of us do the day after a day like that? I'm guessing we'd sleep in. We'd kick back. We might even let down our guard a little bit. Not Jesus. He was up and at it early the next morning.
Success is a dangerous thing. For so many people, it is their undoing. They don't steward the success. They don't steward the blessing. They let down their guard and give the enemy a foothold. And that's when the blessing turns into a curse and success turns into failure. They either get satisfied or smug. They stop seeking the source of success.
Here's the bottom line: when God uses you in a powerful way, you better get up even earlier to seek Him. When God blesses you, you better pray even more. And any measure of success God gives you better result in seeking Him even more.
5 Comments:
Amen.
Great post, thank you!
Most of the pastors I know take Monday off... this is a great take on that practice!
AMEN!
Thanks for the post PM. Absolutely LOVE it. This why I have a love/hate relationship with early mornings. :-)I believe when you do the Spiritual discipline (prayer & read the Scriptures) physical discipline (working out) and mental discipline (reading) there is energy that comes from those disciplines throughout the day.
I just need to get back myself back into the gym...:-).
There is such a temptation to get complacent, especially when we do something risky for God. Rather than building our trust in Him, we often say "Okay, now lets do it my way. That was a little too dangerous."
This is God timing for me this morning. I am not the regular preaching pastor at my church but did preach yesterday an emotional, anointed sermon. It came at the end of a very long week, much like yours. As my alarm went off this morning, I could not direct my thoughts away from Jesus and so I just spent time in prayer. I did sleep in a bit this morning but I do plan to get away to spend time seeking God and being in his presence this afternoon for a chance to be filled by Him before the week starts again instead of waiting til the end of the week when the candle is finished burning at both ends. Thanks for this reminder and challenge this morning
Great, post, Mark. As I read it, though, I couldn't escape the sensation that you were viewing Jesus' early morning retreat as the OPPOSITE of sleeping in and kicking back. I don't think it was. I think prayer WAS his re-creation, as it can be for us. While prayer is often hard work, there comes a point in the life of the Spirit when communion with the Father is food and drink, rest and refreshment, not an obligation or task to be accomplished. It has been my experience, though not often enough.
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