Jesus: Neither Hurried nor Harried

One of the unique things about Jesus is that He was never in too big a hurry to deal with interruptions.  On His way to heal a child who was dying, He stopped to find out who in a pressing crowd touched Him.  In the midst of what we would call a revival in Capernaum, He disappeared to pray alone and then moved on to another town with His message.  After feeding a great crowd of 5K men (probably 15K counting women and children) He went up on the mountain to pray.
Knowing that His time on earth was limited, He stuck to the main purpose for His being here in the first place.  He announced this purpose in the synagogue in Nazareth, His hometown by quoting from Isa 61.  He said, "The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)  On another occasion He said "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10)  Although He mentioned some other purposes for His coming, these were paramount.  He moved resolutely toward the fulfillment of His ministry without letting "busy-ness" interfere.
You and I often begin a week or a day with a list of "to-do's" that are daunting.  One of our favorite phrases is "I just don't have time..."  The reality is that most of us don't know why we are here on earth.  Once we discover God's purpose for us we can focus on that and ignore those things that pull us away from fulfilling it.  A friend of mine who is now with the Lord had a sermon entitled "Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing".
Three things I have found helpful in de-hurrying my life are:

  1. Finding out from God why I am here in the first place.
  2. Daily going to God before I make out my my to-do list.
  3. Recognizing that some "interruptions" are actually opportunities that will move me further down the road to fulfilling my purpose.

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