myrag

Q1- From the passage in Mark and the references from the Gospel of Luke, given by Dr. Wilson, we see that Jesus has a pattern of setting aside quiet or private time with the Father, whether it be early in the morning or at other intervals during the day. I believe the quiet time spent with the Father before day is so that he (Jesus) can talk with the Father, listen to him and receive directions and whatever else he needs for the day, BEFORE the day starts, before the crowds come, before he begins his daily mission, before he begins preaching, before he begins healing. He would have been familiar with "In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths." The disciples wanted him to continue what he had done the previous day in Capernaum and meet the needs of the people in Capernaum who were looking for him. Jesus felt impelled to move on to another village. Because Jesus has communed with his Father, he had direction on what he was supposed to do and followed the directions of the Father and went to other nearby villages so that he could preach there, in other villages, because that is what he was sent to do; that is what he came to do. It would have been a good thing for the people had he stayed in Capernaum, but he had to do as his Father had instructed, most likely in their early morning discourse. I do have quiet time. My quiet time is early in the morning, well before I have to get up and start getting kids up and start preparing to get on the move for the day. I have to admit, I haven't always been consistent with that, but I also have to acknowledge that when I'm not, the day goes differently, or maybe I should say I handle things a little differently. This year l have committed to being more intentional regarding my morning devotional time. One thing I have to do is to not stay up late doing some unnecessary things so that I am able to get up at the desired time. This is necessary for me.