Inside Information

"Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them." - Matthew 5:1

It's been a full week of my attempt to practice being less busy for Lent.  Some days are good.  Some days not so much.  But I am aware.  And that awareness is helping me to see better.  I feel more empowered regarding my time.  I realized that I don't have to function on other people's schedule.  I know that might sound like a no brainer to some but for whatever reason, I had been functioning more on other people's schedule.  Something powerful happens when you have a chance to get away from the crowd and focus on Jesus a little more.  You see things differently.  He gets to teach you things. No matter how long you have been walking with him, Jesus can always show you something new.  But it may not happen in the crowd.

I know that there are lots of churches and ministries that thrive on crowds.  Megachurches with thousands of members; ministers with millions of followers and TV evangelists with millions of "partners".  But to me, there is something special about that personal time with Jesus that I just don't get in the crowd.  Maybe it has more to do with the introverted part of my personality (I'm about 55/45 extrovert to introvert).  For the extroverts of the world they may find joy and revelation in the crowd.  I invite strong extroverts to tell me if that's true.  But even the strong extroverts I know still like their "special time" alone with Jesus. 

Being a follower of Jesus, you will be called away at times to just be with him.  Away from the noise and demands of the crowd and just alone with Jesus.  I love in Scripture when it tells us that Jesus saw crowds and went away.  It's like the complete opposite of what we think is the way to "do ministry" today.  People want a big crowd.  Lots of followers.  But making disciples rarely happens in a crowd.  It's hard to get those special impartations in a crowd.  Following this first passage in the 5th chapter of Matthew is Jesus' famous Beatitude sermon.  That sermon was not given to the crowd. We might take that for granted now since the bible is so widely published.  But that wasn't for the masses.  It was for those who came away with him.  They got some really important inside information about how to handle life. 

I know that the time I spend with God alone in precious to me.  And staying busy with stuff gets me away from that time and then I miss it.  But if we are truly following Jesus, we have to move away from the crowd when he does. In that time comes the insight you will need to get you through whatever you are facing now and in the future. So whatever you gave up for Lent, or even if you didn't participate, take some time away to learn more about God.  You won't regret it.  You need it.