Passion Week – Wednesday – When Did Jesus Move?
If I oversaw Jesus’ timeline, I would have made a couple of significant timing decisions differently.
First, what was up with his ministry not going public until He was thirty? Was He not ready? Did the world not need Him until then? What was the holdup?
And then once He started forwarding the kingdom full time, I personally think he should have stayed around a little longer. If I were on the leadership team determining whether the disciples were ready to “take it from there”, I would have voted “no” quite adamatly.
Good thing I wasn’t in charge!
Galatians 4:4 shows us the Father was in charge of the timing. “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.”
John 5:19-20a says, “So Jesus explained, “I’ll tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing.”
Jesus moved when the Father showed Him to move.
Jesus waited when the Father told Him to wait.
Jesus knew what to do because He know His Father’s voice.
Most of us move when we feel like it is the right time or when we have decided what is next. We make our decisions out of emotional connections or logical deduction.
I’m more of a logical person myself, but have on occasion been moved by an emotional plea. Both logical and emotional decisions can get us into trouble.
God offered us a better way. As believers, we have an ongoing mission to discern God’s plan for our lives every step of the way. There are two best ways to do that.
- Stay current in God’s word.
Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”
Regularly ingesting God’s word gives us a foundation to build on.
- Learn to discern God’s voice.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:25).
Jesus offers to be our shepherd. He offers to lead if we will listen.
Activate: Take one decision you need to make and ask the Shepherd to lead you or ask God for a prompt that it is time for you to move on. Then take what you think you hear and hold it to the light of God’s word to discern if it aligns biblically, ask if it is biblical, and run it by some trusted believers as well – this is how we learn to discern.
Prayer: Jesus, you promised the Advocate to come alongside us and guide us. We need your Spirit. Fill us again and again.
Want More? Read John 10. Note how Jesus made his decisions and how he wants us to make ours.