And he said to them “Let us go elsewhere, to the adjoining towns, that I may preach there also; for it was for this that I came out.” Mark 1:38 (Byington)
Why did Jesus come? What does He say it was for? What is your take on it? Do you ask yourself these questions? Or do you prefer not to think? Is it far easier to push everything off and run about our busy schedules and tell ourselves that another moment or another day we will give it more serious thought?
There are a lot of reasons why Jesus came. If we have chosen to read things such as this note today, then we are demonstrating to ourselves that we at least feel a need for Christ and are in fact searching for more of Him. But how often do we mull these things over in our heads. Have we become dust-covered religious showcase items? Are we content to have already done our thinking and now sit back into a monotonous religious routine to await a future return of someone we decided once-upon-a-time, was worthy of our approval?
Well, in Mark 1:38 Jesus tells us that He comes to be heard. It does us absolutely no good to sit in a pew and let a preacher´s words go into one ear then out the other. It does us no good to read a daily text and uplifting note when we are going through the motions so that we can get on with our tedious task of living in this crazy modern society. We all feel the pull of the world around us tugging us here or dragging us in a rush over there. Yet Jesus´ words are being whispered to us. Are we hearing them?
When our religious leaders tell us we are soldiers in the army of Christ, it is not to get us worked up and at arms for a fight against anyone who would dare to resist the name of Jesus. What should be understood is that we are at war against our very nature. We are under attack from every side, but we should not be too hasty to shoot arrows at another. The ambushes we should fear are those which attack us from within. Passiveness, worldly interests and any other thing which may creep in and cloud out our vision of a God is there to harm us. Anything that would stand between or separate us from experiencing our Lord in a personal and close relationship is a deadly blow. Any moment spent where we were not hearing Jesus´ words booming in our ears is a battle lost.
Jesus intended to be heard. We are not speaking in the past tense. We are not talking about a message He intended for a people long ago. We are not even talking about having made a decision to follow Him somewhere in our own distant past. We are talking about being moved, motivated and instructed in the active present. We are talking about Jesus telling us how to see something right now. He will lead us by the hand and His words should guide us through every situation we face. But if we are not listening for that voice, there can be no hearing.
Dear Jesus, that burning we feel inside is beginning to harden into something we can understand. You came to guide us safely to the Father. You came to preach and show us the Way. Now we see that this burning is the need we feel to hear Your voice. We ask You to turn up the volume so that those words You whisper to us today boom in our ears and shake our world. Instruct us, teach us and lead us in whatever we face today. Let us continue to need to hear that sweet voice and increase our need until we cannot live without it. Let Your words carry us in every moment because that is why You came to give them to us.
Amen
Searching For Christ 
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