Day 2

“After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.”

Matthew 14:23

The holidays are some of the busiest times of the year! It all starts with Thanksgiving, which is the busiest travel day of the whole year. Then the very next day is “Black Friday” and is when most people rush out before midnight for all the deals to buy Christmas presents.

Needless to say, between Thanksgiving and New Years, it seems like everyone is constantly on the go. Holiday parties, family gatherings, decorating for Christmas, buying gifts, wrapping gifts and traveling are just some of the things we find ourselves busy with during the holidays.

There is nothing wrong with being busy, however, there is so much wrong with being too busy for God. Think for yourself during this holiday season, have you been intentional about making time to spend with God?

The verse above from Matthew 14 is one of many examples of Jesus being intentional about making time for God. Immediately before this, Jesus and the disciples had just fed the Five Thousand. Prior to that Jesus had received news that His cousin [John the Baptist] had been killed. He actually tried to get away to a solitary place but the crowds followed Him.

Instead of being angry about it, Matthew writes, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matthew 14:14) What we see is that Jesus was obviously upset about His cousin John being killed, then He spends the day healing the crowd of people, during which time He and the disciples themselves had not yet been able to eat.

We know that Jesus was busy. So we see him setting the example, after healing the sick and feeding the hungry, He dismisses the crowd and goes somewhere by Himself to pray.

1. If Jesus did it, then we should to.
2. If Jesus needed it, then we do to.