Luke 21:37-38 (NIV) Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.
Despite the fact that Jesus knew that in a couple of days He would be crucified, He still spent His days, all the time left to Him, teaching in the temple courts. It would have been understandable if, instead, He had holed up somewhere, psyching Himself up for what was coming.
But a big chunk of Jesus’ mission before He went to the cross was to teach all who would listen about the kingdom of God. So, until darkness fell on the night He was betrayed, wherever He could find people, He taught them.
Jesus never had anything on His agenda that was more important than obeying the Father and doing what He commanded Him to do. He never balanced out His time between God and family, God and work, God and recreation. He simply lived full-time in God’s kingdom, seeking God’s will for the day each morning, obeying it all day long, and then falling asleep in His presence, assured of His watch care all night long, and His provision for the following day. And so He lived constantly in God’s presence, His provision, and His power every day.
People today wonder why they don’t see miracles like were done in the first century of the Church. It is not because God is done doing miracles, or because He has grown weak or feeble over the centuries. In fact, many Christians around the world do experience miracles. It is simply that God works miracles through those who are actively following His lead in working to expand His kingdom, as signs to both those workers, and to those that they are reaching out to. But far too few Christians these days make the work of God’s kingdom and instant obedience to His commands the top priority in their lives. Instead, they prioritize their work, their families, and their pastimes ahead of God’s agenda. Some even shy away from asking God first thing in the morning what He wants them to do that day, afraid that He will call them to do something that could cost them their jobs (and He might). But fearing to even ask, or shying away from instant obedience to the things that God calls them to do, puts them outside of the place where they will experience any miracles.
Father, this makes a lot of sense. You don’t do miracles to impress us, or for our convenience, but to further Your agenda. And if we are not working on Your agenda, we are not where miracles are most likely to occur. Help us every day, Lord, to boldly seek Your will for us for that day, and then to commit ourselves to instantly and completely obeying that will, so that we, like Jesus, can live, work, and even sleep, in Your presence, Your power, and Your provision. Amen.