That They Might Be With Him

This year I have enjoyed being part of the ‘In Search of Timothy’ Grow Group, where we have been studying this book by Tony Cooke.  In one of the lessons, Tony explains something he used to do with students when he was teaching at Bible school.  He would read to the students from Mark chapter 3 where Jesus appoints the disciples, and he would read out the following verse:

He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons (Mark 3v14 NIV)

He would then ask the students to tell him what was the first thing that Jesus wanted his called ones to do, and almost without exception the students would shout out ‘to preach’!! ! And then he would tell them, no that’s not what the scripture says.  Then they would read it again, ‘He appointed twelve that THEY MIGHT BE WITH HIM…’: the first priority in Jesus' calling is that he called the twelve to be with Him!

The above story really touched my heart, for I myself have read the above scripture many times, and have always focused on the ‘go’ part, the sending out to share the gospel and the authority given to us, without noticing the first thing Jesus was asking was for them to be with Him.  Don’t get me wrong: I have always known that my Heavenly Father wants me to be with Him, but in this context what I find important to highlight is that in order to be ready for Him to send us, we have to get to know Him first and receive from Him. 

Mark 4v34 says: ‘He did not say anything to them without using a parable.  But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.’ NIVUK

When we spend time alone with our Lord, He can explain to us the meaning of His Word, He can reveal to us His will, His purpose for our life, His heart!  This takes time and the disciples spent many days and nights with Jesus before they were ready to go.  And we can see how in the process they sometimes failed to recognise who He was. 

Mark 4v39-41: 'He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind dies down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’ NIVUK

Have you found yourself filled with fear in the middle of a difficult situation?  Have you perhaps felt your faith shaking in the middle of a storm?  And then ended up amazed at the power of our Lord and Saviour?  I certainly have and I know that has been sign of my lack of knowledge of who He really is!!!  It is a journey and thankfully there is no condemnation in Christ, but it is important to ensure we are seeking Him daily, to know Him more, to receive more from Him and to spend time with Him.

Our GoChurch values are Love, Grow, Go.  We have first to receive His love and learn to love; we need to spend time with Him so we can grow, so we can be ready to go wherever He sends us.  However, let us not use this as an excuse to never go, and to cling to perfectionism, which is not of God.  We simply need to ensure that when we go, we are doing it from a place of dependence on Him and not ourselves. 

My prayer this week is that you receive afresh the revelation of how much our Lord desires to be with us, allowing you to identify and remove from your life anything that is taking priority over Him.