Luke 21: 37-38
37 Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38 and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.
This week, I wrote devotional questions for the church, and on this day I asked the question: Why does Jesus go out to pray at the end of a long day? And the funny thing (and Lyanne pointed this out), it doesn’t say he goes out to pray. I just made that leap I suppose because I know that he wen to the Mount of Olives often to pray and teach the disciples. So really the better question is, why does Jesus go to the mountain at the end of the day. And the answer it seems to me now is more than perhaps prayer. Jesus needed to simply just get away from everything and slow down and quiet his surroundings to rest. Really, I think He just needed to rest after a good day of teaching and ministering.
That’s probably something I need to do myself. Sometimes it’s difficult to put work away and just rest. Yes, there are home responsibilities, and there is Maili – who is a joy, so that’s not so tiring. But to be able to come home and rest my mind is a good thing. Or maybe it’s not every night, but at least some time during the week to rest. Listen, if Jesus needed it, how much more do I need it?! (This is something I’d like to think about further when it comes to people’s live in general. Everyone is so busy these days, and it’s just can’t be good.)
Secondly, there are the people getting up to hear Jesus. They wanted to be first in line. Wow, I want that to be my attitude every morning – to get up early to hear Jesus!
These two thing go hand-in-hand in my mind. At restful evening followed by an early morning listening to Jesus. My prayer is that I might be able to incorporate these ideas into my regular daily life. Put away the distractions of the day when I come home, and get up early and listen to Jesus speak.