Word for Today - 2 Jan 2025
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“When He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.” Matthew 14:23 NKJV
The importance of being alone with God
Jesus was both human and divine. Because we tend to think of Him as the Son of God more than the Son of Man, we overlook what we can learn from His human experience. When Jesus miraculously fed five thousand people, His divine power and prerogatives were on display (See Matthew 14:13-21). Yet after the event, we see His humanity in ways we should be able to identify with. After dismissing the crowd and sending the disciples away, Jesus withdrew to a solitary spot on the mountainside to be alone with God. After such a miracle, most of us would be celebrating. And those around us would have a hard time understanding why He sent them away. But Jesus understood that His power did not come from the crowd but from His Father, so He created time and solitude to be alone with Him. The relationship Jesus had with His Father is a picture of the relationship you, too, can have with God. Three things describe it: (1) Intimacy. “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does (John 5:20 NKJV). (2) Dependency. “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (v. 19 NKJV). (3) Obedience. “I can of Myself do nothing…I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (v. 30 NKJV). What do you need to send away in order to have such a relationship with the Lord?
The importance of being alone with God
Jesus was both human and divine. Because we tend to think of Him as the Son of God more than the Son of Man, we overlook what we can learn from His human experience. When Jesus miraculously fed five thousand people, His divine power and prerogatives were on display (See Matthew 14:13-21). Yet after the event, we see His humanity in ways we should be able to identify with. After dismissing the crowd and sending the disciples away, Jesus withdrew to a solitary spot on the mountainside to be alone with God. After such a miracle, most of us would be celebrating. And those around us would have a hard time understanding why He sent them away. But Jesus understood that His power did not come from the crowd but from His Father, so He created time and solitude to be alone with Him. The relationship Jesus had with His Father is a picture of the relationship you, too, can have with God. Three things describe it: (1) Intimacy. “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does (John 5:20 NKJV). (2) Dependency. “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (v. 19 NKJV). (3) Obedience. “I can of Myself do nothing…I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (v. 30 NKJV). What do you need to send away in order to have such a relationship with the Lord?