You’ll be glad you did

Slow down to speed up. I have always loved Mark’s account of The Good News! He tells us in sixteen chapters what John took 21 to do, Luke 24 and Matthew 28 chapters to record. In the first 20 verses he has Jesus born, baptized, tempted in the wilderness, preaching and the disciples called! Matthew didn’t get all that done till chapter five and in Luke’s rendition it takes 225 verses to get all that done! Johnny Ramsey pointed me to the fact that the key word in Mark is “straightway” or “immediately” used 42 times in 16 chapters. Here’s prima example one of productivity.

I love Mark’s account of the “efficient”, “get it done”, “making it happen” Jesus. That’s todays gospel! We’re busy. We’ve got places to go and people to see and things to do. We don’t have time for foolishness or things that get in our way. WOAH, wait a moment! We need to read Mark more closely. While Jesus was the most highly productive person of all time if we see Him as rushing through life with no time for the good stuff we might miss Mark’s purpose. Perhaps Mark is reminding an “alpha driven society” of how to really be productive.

Notice:

1. In Mark you have Jesus connecting with individual’s lives MORE than in the other accounts: Get it done people tend, if not careful, to ignore others as we move from project to project. Or worse toward using people to accomplish our ends. Jesus didn’t do that. In Mark He shows us how to accomplish WHILE caring. In the first 30 verses He has interacted directly with at least 21 people, helped a possessed man to find peace, raised up a friend’s hurting mom, and healed MANY people. You see Him moved with compassion (vs. 41) rather than irritated by the troubles of others that might slow Him down.
2. In Mark you have Jesus stopping to “smell the roses”: Those of us who want to be massively productive tend to be so focused that we don’t have time to enjoy the accomplishment. My wife often reminds me - “enjoy the ride”...I’m learning. Mark would show us the same in Jesus life. He’s walking the seashore (1:16), taking time to “go to church” (1:21), visiting in a friend’s home (1:29), taking time away (1:35) and all that in chapter one.
3. In Mark you have perhaps the key to Jesus seeming effortless output, His great spiritual life: Too busy to pray more than a breath? Too busy to reflect? Too busy to commune with God? Gotta get moving, right? Not Jesus. In about half the number of overall verses you find almost 50% MORE about the prayer life of Jesus. Over and over Mark let’s us know the real secret of Jesus work output is that He was not only connected with God throughout the day but He took time at night and time in the wee hours of the morning to pray! Much time.

Want to get a lot done today? Don’t ignore others, love them, you’ll find the rewards awesome. Don’t rush about like a busy busboy, enjoy the ride, God’s given you the time you need. Don’t forget to pray, it is the connection to your power source.