Spending Time With Jesus

Mark 3:14 "And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach" ESV

 

During Jesus' life he preached/taught, lead and served. The thing is, He knew that His ultimate purpose was going to kill Him, so He needed to entrust what He did to some other guys who could continue to do what He did. He picked twelve guys and the first thing these guys had to do, the first responsibility that they had was to be with Him.

 

Sometimes I think we miss this. We want to go out preaching or teaching. We want to lead others. We want to serve and we ignore the most important thing…being with Jesus. We have to spend time with Him. We have to get into His word and know His mind and talk to Him and listen to Him. That is what these twelve guys did for three years. They spent time with Jesus talking to Him. Listening to Him. Watching Him. If this part of my ministry is not there, then I am just spinning my wheels. I am operating under my own power and what I do will be worthless. I need to be with Him. It is an absolute necessity that I get in His word and let Him speak to me. I need to hear from Him and watch Him and talk to Him.

 

It was only after these twelve spent time with Christ that they were able to do their next responsibility: preach. Publicly proclaim the Gospel. If I try to preach or teach and I have not spent time with Jesus, there will be no power. There will be no work of the Spirit of God. There will be no reality in my life. But when I spend time with Christ, I can then hear from Him and open my mouth effectively and accomplish what God wants.

 

The public proclamation of the Gospel is huge. It was the disciple's first order of business. Jesus knew that the proclamation of truth was the only thing that was going to set people free. Sure, verse 15 tells us that the disciples would also have authority to cast out demons…to minister to people so that they would be set free from all of the garbage that binds them, but this authority and power came from spending time with Jesus and then proclaiming His word.

 

Do I see my words making an impact? If so…it is for His glory. If not, I wonder if it is because I am not spending enough time with the Lord? Something to consider.