Our demanding schedules

The whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many. — Mark 1:33-34

Is your life too busy? Business deadlines, productivity quotas, and shuttling children to lessons and sporting events can really fill up your schedule. It’s easy to think, If only I didn’t have so many responsibilities, then I could walk in vital union with God.

Yet C. S. Lewis wisely points out that no one was busier than Christ. “Our model is the Jesus . . . of the workshop, the roads, the crowds, the clamorous demands and surly oppositions, the lack of all peace and privacy, the interruptions. For this . . . is the Divine life operating under human conditions.”

We read of Jesus in Capernaum: “At evening, when the sun had set, they brought in Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many” (Mark 1:32-34). The next day Christ sought out a solitary place and prayed. There He received direction from His Father to pursue a demanding ministry in another place. Our Lord communed with His Father and depended on the Spirit to minister through Him.

Is your schedule demanding? Follow the example of Jesus and set aside a specific time for prayer. Then depend upon God’s power to help you meet each day’s demands. — Dennis Fisher

The many tasks we face each day

Can burden and oppress,

But spending time with God each day

Can bring relief from stress. — Sper

READ: Mark 1:32-39

To keep your life in balance, lean on the Lord.

The Bible in one year:

• 1 Kings 6-7

• Luke 20: 27-47