Slowing Down
Are you good at taking the time to slow down?
Verse of the Day
“But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.”
Today’s Devotional
I tend to write about whatever it seems like God is trying to get me to work on. He faithfully puts ideas in my head or gives me things to write about.
But if I’m being honest, I have not had many words to write in the last few days. And I have been frustrated. The more I thought, read, prayed, and asked God to help me write, I continued to sit at my computer with nothing to type.
Finally, something kept being repeated in my thoughts.
SLOW DOWN.
I am not good at slowing down. I am good at either going really fast or stopping altogether. Going slow is not how I roll. But then I read today’s verse. I show that I am living in God if and when I model my life after Jesus. And guess what? Jesus was never in a hurry. Jesus never exhibited a sense of stress based on what He needed to accomplish that day. When Jesus needed to be refreshed and renewed, He took the time to be alone with the Father. He slowed down and prioritized what really mattered. Look at these two examples:
- “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” (Mark 1:35)
- “After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.” (Matthew 14:23)
In the verse from Mark, Jesus withdrew after a time of intense work. Many people had come to Him to be healed. He was about to travel to other towns to preach. So…between one “assignment” and the next, Jesus took time to slow down and be renewed by the Father. Do I do that? Or do I rush from one task to the next?
In the verse from Matthew, Jesus withdrew after feeding a huge crowd with only a small amount of provisions. Earlier in that same chapter of Matthew, Jesus took time to be alone after hearing that His cousin, John the Baptist, had been killed.
It seems to me that Jesus knew how to pace Himself. He knew that the Father was the Source of everything that he needed to carry out His purpose. He knew the value of slowing down and taking the time needed to meet with the Father.
I have a lot to learn from Jesus about how to live on this planet. For today, I am going to slow down and take the time to study Him.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Do you have a tendency to rush?
Do you see the need to slow down in your life? What would be the benefit?
Do you regularly take time to slow down and simply spend time with your Father?
How could you live more like Jesus today?