Later Simon
and the others went out to find him. They said, “Everyone is asking for you.” (Mark 1:36 NLT)
Jesus is becoming a star. His disciples find him spending time with his
Father and tell him that everybody is clamoring for him. His response; The Lord packs his bags and
moves to a different location. Jesus is
not motivated by what sways the world.
Fame can be a very intoxicating
thing. For a Christian, success is much
harder to deal with than failure.
Success, if not put in perspective, through pride can lead to
self-sufficiency and self-righteousness.
Failure, on the other hand, can have a purifying effect on motives. It tends to take the scales off of our eyes
and reveal to us why we do what we do.
The unrestrained pursuit of success is like a quest that has no
end. Achievement for the sake of
achievement puts us on a treadmill in life that is unsustainable. The more we get, the more we have to
have. It becomes a lust rather than
love. Of course, we all want to be
successful in life, but if it is more important to us than pleasing God, we
have a false god in our lives. False
gods always disappoint those who worship them.
Jesus was never motivated by the
applause of man, or just by the needs of people, but by the will of his
Father. This was the key to his
success. Jesus kept the glimmer in his eye for approval from his Father in
heaven more prominant than a glance from man.
It’s all a matter of priority. Do we seek recognition from our heavenly Father, more than the clamor of the crowd ? It is simple, but not always easy
to do.
Image used with permission by Microsoft.
Ken
Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places” YWAM Publishing
Email: kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/
Email: kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/
Podcasts: http://kensblogpodcast.blogspot.com
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