"And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness." Mark 1:12
Lots of things are happening here, but the thing that strikes me the most is the notion that the Spirit of God DROVE Jesus into the wilderness.
I've seen that wilderness. It's so dry you think you've left this world. Mile after mile of what we would call mountains and they call hills, but they're desert hills, the kind of hills you wouldn't walk up on a dare.
And God the Father sent his Spirit to MAKE Jesus go into that wilderness down South of Jerusalem somewhere near Jehrico. Amazing.
What are we to think of that?
Only this: God does cause and allow difficulties in all our lives. Why? What did Jesus get out of 40 days of nothing but Satan hammering him with thoughts of getting out of that literal Hell-hole?
Preparation, I would think.
Preparation for the next spiritual step. Preparation for the hard times ahead. Preparation for the worst of days.
I remember playing football often. The smell of freshly cut grass. The notion that I could hit folks and get away with it, even be cheered for it was outstanding. But before we ever played a game, there was about a month of blazing temperatures, heavy humiity and something called grass drills. In those drills, one would run in place, then fall prone to the ground, get back up and do it all over again many times. I HATED those things. Saw no reason for them.
Till we played a game, and somewhere in the fourth quarter, when someone blocked me and I missed a good hold on a running back and I hit the ground and I bounced back up and took off after the running back, perhaps it hit me. All those grass drills, and running and practice was but preparation for those moments that were the hardest.
God prepared His Son for the days to come. His angels, the scriptures say, made sure He made it through, but it was all on Jesus. His humanity needed sheltering, but his deity understood.
So must we be. Our worst moments are preparation for our best. The thing we must do is simply hold on, then continue on.
Lots of things are happening here, but the thing that strikes me the most is the notion that the Spirit of God DROVE Jesus into the wilderness.
I've seen that wilderness. It's so dry you think you've left this world. Mile after mile of what we would call mountains and they call hills, but they're desert hills, the kind of hills you wouldn't walk up on a dare.
And God the Father sent his Spirit to MAKE Jesus go into that wilderness down South of Jerusalem somewhere near Jehrico. Amazing.
What are we to think of that?
Only this: God does cause and allow difficulties in all our lives. Why? What did Jesus get out of 40 days of nothing but Satan hammering him with thoughts of getting out of that literal Hell-hole?
Preparation, I would think.
Preparation for the next spiritual step. Preparation for the hard times ahead. Preparation for the worst of days.
I remember playing football often. The smell of freshly cut grass. The notion that I could hit folks and get away with it, even be cheered for it was outstanding. But before we ever played a game, there was about a month of blazing temperatures, heavy humiity and something called grass drills. In those drills, one would run in place, then fall prone to the ground, get back up and do it all over again many times. I HATED those things. Saw no reason for them.
Till we played a game, and somewhere in the fourth quarter, when someone blocked me and I missed a good hold on a running back and I hit the ground and I bounced back up and took off after the running back, perhaps it hit me. All those grass drills, and running and practice was but preparation for those moments that were the hardest.
God prepared His Son for the days to come. His angels, the scriptures say, made sure He made it through, but it was all on Jesus. His humanity needed sheltering, but his deity understood.
So must we be. Our worst moments are preparation for our best. The thing we must do is simply hold on, then continue on.
No comments:
Post a Comment