The Christian Life – Week 43 / October 20th

by admin

“Now in the morning, having risen a long while
before daylight, He went out and departed to a
solitary place; and there He prayed.”
Mark 1:35

There is no doubt that Christians need to return to a contemplative life of simplicity and devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3) The call of the Spirit of God is always one to quiet meditation and worship, free from the distractions of this world. Scripture mirrors this in what I call the “desert experience.” Most of God’s servants withdrew to a lonely place and there in the quiet solitude free from the noises of the world they communed with God and heard His voice. Jesus followed this example!

We need to cultivate this in our lives and our desert can be anywhere where we find solitude, quiet and freedom from the demands of our daily responsibilities. We cannot and must not neglect this part of walking with Jesus. Even our churches, with their numerous activities and dynamic worship music, can prevent us from really hearing the voice of God in our lives. The contemplative place will restore this and lead to surprising and new adventures with Jesus. This place is one of:

1. Reflection
This means really listening to our hearts and conscience. (2 Timothy 1:3) We need to hear the Spirit of God tell us the truth about ourselves. He does this, not to condemn us but to move us forward in the pursuit of holiness, which is Christ’s character. Indeed, if we are really honest with ourselves this truth about ourselves will shout at us in the lonely place.

2. Meditative
We need to quietly read God’s word so that we can really think about it and “chew the cud” as it were. (1 Timothy 4:15)  The Bible must be implanted in our hearts (James 1:21) and for this to happen we must receive a regular diet of it. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

3. Repentance
To embrace the ways of God means to change our minds about the ways in our lives that contradict His. This changing of the mind is what repentance is all about. The lonely place, where there are no distractions, can be very intimidating as generally we hide our evil ways in the business of our lives. To be in a quiet place enables all sorts of issues to bubble up from within us and so Jesus can speak to us. Most people cannot cope with silence but if we embrace it we shall hear the still small voice of God reaching out to us. The only way, invariably, to respond to this voice is to repent. Repentance is a wonderful thing as it lays hold of the cross of Jesus and by it finds cleansing, favour and joy. Only the lonely place will bring these blessings to our lives. Those then who have not been trained by it have forfeited a great blessing.

4. Worship
True worship very often has nothing to do with noise or music. Worship is the response of the heart to the self revelation of God. (Psalm 113:1-3) It is something brought to us by the Holy Spirit and it is therefore really supernatural. God is worshipped because He is holy, majestic and all loving. There is nothing selfish about God and so He is worthy to be praised and adored. We are His creatures and so we worship Him with no thought or desire to get anything in return because He alone is worthy. We need a desert, quiet place or lonely place to find these truths afresh in our hearts. Blessed is the person who walks this road!

In my view the rediscovery of communing with God is an urgent matter. Our Christian lives can become so cluttered with noise and activity which in many respects is “un-commanded work” or things that Jesus never told us to do; no matter how good and commendable. Jesus wants time with you and He wants you to slow down and hear His voice. (John 10:27) What will it take for you to get to this place? He brought this truth home to the Laodicean Church when He reminded them that in fact He was pushed to the side by their business and was therefore on the outside looking in! (Revelation 3:20)

Malcolm Hedding.

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries

2014Devotional