"In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there."

Mark – Mark 1:35

"But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many."

Jesus – Mark 10:43-45

The paradox of life as a follower of Jesus is truly amazing and absolutely opposite of anything the world would suggest or recommend. As the Bible makes clear, if we want to be first in the eyes of God we must be willing to be last with respect to our desires and needs; if we want to be rich in Christ we have to be willing to be poor in spirit and the things of this world; if we want to really live life to the fullest by God's definition we must be willing to die to ourselves, our ambitions, our relationships, our possessions.

It's not that we have to sell all our stuff, walk away from all our relationships, or abandon all our dreams…we just have to be willing to! And there's the rub! How do we get to the point where we're simply wiling to go where He wants, do what He wants, be what He wants; how and when He wants??? Our Master was the perfect model for us to follow as Scripture makes it clear that He only did what His Father wanted Him to do (John 8:28-29). But how; how was He so willing and able to do only what His Father wanted?

I'm convinced the highest priority of Jesus was His relationship with His Father! Everything else could wait when it came to being with His Father. He was so intimately in tune with His Father that He knew exactly what His Father wanted, when, how and why His Father wanted it. It wasn't because Jesus was, is and always will be God because He came to earth to function as a man even though still God (mind boggling, I know). But functioning as man was created to function He daily, moment by moment was in tune with His Father. Mark shares with us the commentary of Jesus' morning: early morning, still dark, secluded place, praying!!!!

No wonder the Master of all creation could say "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many." Only a supernatural, growing relationship with our Creator can empower that kind of humility and paradox of life.

"Father please make me a man and us a people who so long for You in daily experience that we can't imagine going through a day without spending time with You. Please gracious King give us a hunger to spend time with You in prayer and in Your Word like we've never had before. Empower us to serve and not be served and thoroughly enjoy it. In Jesus Name. Amen."

His Kingdom Come,
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