Morning At Last

When people leave their church, regardless of the reason, they often find that they are spending less and less time in Bible study.  It can happen because many traditional churches train us to rely on the man in the pulpit and we get lazy, or life gets busy.  I’m like everyone else and need to spend more time in the Word so I’m going to start a series on the Beatitudes.

The biggest reason I am doing this is because I need it.  Secondly, I hope to encourage others who feel the need to get back into the Word but don’t know where to start.  You can start with me.  :0)  I’m not a great scholar.  I can find my way around a Strong’s Concordance but I’m not a Greek or Hebrew expert. When I do something like this, I always see the scriptures in ways I didn’t expect.   You know, the Bible isn’t just for the scholars.  Jesus said that His Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth so I ask for Him to lead us now and let’s dig in.

Mat 4:25  And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.
Mat 5:1  And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him.
Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, (KJV)

You might notice that I included the end of Chapter 4 in this quote.  The original documents that our Bibles are based on didn’t have chapters and verses.  Sometimes they make a lot of sense but sometimes they cut things off in the middle of a thought.  Don’t be afraid to look back and see what is being said.  The chapters and verses make it easy for us to find and remember the Word but they are a help.  They aren’t sanctified so don’t be a slave to them.

Jesus was surrounded by all sorts of people.  Some of them wanted to be healed.  Some were simply curious.  All of them were focused on Him.  You can imagine what it was like with everybody coming to see Him.  Many people would be talking in the crowd.  If they hadn’t seen each other in a while, they might be catching up.  Don’t think it was like Sunday morning church and everyone stood in an adoring hush.  These people had heard about Him and gathered together in a convenient place but most of them didn’t know who He really was and wondered what all the talk was about.

At some point, Jesus left the crowd and went up on the mountain.  Now those who really wanted to know what He had to say were going to have to leave the visiting crowd and find Him.  He found a good spot for His purposes and sat down and waited.  Those who were really following Him would notice His disappearance and find Him.  It wasn’t long until His disciples came and settled down to listen to what He wanted to tell them.

I used to think this meant that the 12 disciples came and sat at His feet for this lesson but the Word doesn’t limit it to them.  He had many disciples beyond the 12 who were closest to Him so this word disciple really means a learner or a pupil.  In other words, by separating Himself from the crowd in the valley, He also made a separation between those who were curious sightseers and those who were hungry for truth.  If you are hungry, you seek Him.  The interesting thing is that He caused the separation without saying a word and allowed the people to make their own choice as to whether to follow Him or not.

Jesus didn’t try to build a following.  He didn’t try to take something from His followers.  He offered them something of great value, invited them and then left it to them as to whether they would come or not.   He met the people at their “hunger” level.  He didn’t need people to support Him.  He didn’t need them to build His ego.  He truly came to serve because He loved them.  He knew that His time was short and He spent His time pouring into those who would carry the vision after He left.

Those of us working from home can take lessons from Him in how to stay on target while being gracious to those around us.  Somehow Jesus made time for those who needed it and still got the job done without stress.  Do you think that prayer time He had with the Father helped with that?  I definitely want to be more like Him.  :0)