Mark 7:31-36 – Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.
THEME OF THE DAY: THE REAL WORK IS DONE IN PRIVATE. What we are when alone and before God really defines us spiritually. It isn’t our public lives or church lives observed by others which is the true measurement of who and what we are before the Lord. I am not saying we live hypocritically before people, but all of us at various times have worn the “plastic smile” or put up the “face” before others. Again, this isn’t intentional hypocrisy. It is the reality that we really care what people think of us and don’t want to be viewed in a bad or struggling light. Though this isn’t hypocrisy in its purest sense, it is nevertheless contrary to Biblical fellowship. Our culture is one of individualism, independence, and privatization. These attitudes easily infiltrate the church and produce a fellowship that is shallow and “safe”, not one of depth of burden sharing. Just to test my statement, consider this scenario. We just finished a miserable week. Our children challenged our patience; quality time with our spouse didn’t happen; pressures at work overwhelmed us; sleep was hit and miss; our times with the Lord were also hit and miss. Sunday rolls around and time for church. Our first response is, “I really don’t feel like going. I am tired. The new week is about to start and I just want to relax.” But, we know better and off to church we go. We settle into our Sunday school class and the first thing the teacher says is, “Anyone want to share about the past week? Praises? Prayer requests? Burdens?” and we just sit there. We could open up and say a lot, but say nothing. The class ends and we head off to the sanctuary. A dear brother or sister engages us and asks, “Good to see you. How are you?” And our reply is a safe answer of “I am good. I am okay, thanks for asking” but none of those are really true assessments of how we are really doing.
What I just described is common among Christians; a public life not matching our private life. Again, I am not labeling us hypocrites, but we do need to understand how to ensure our testimony and lives before our brothers and sisters is sincere and transparent. The way to do that is to safeguard the most important relationship we have in life; our relationship with the Lord Jesus. My friends, our walk with the Lord Jesus through prayer, His Word, and obedience must be the highest priority in life, the greatest affection in our hearts, and the most diligent pursuit from our wills. Our quality of life depends upon it. Our joy depends upon it. Our acceptable service for the Lord depends upon it. Our sincerity in fellowship with others depends upon it. Basically, every relationship, every attitude, every word, and every action, if it is going to be pleasing to the Lord, rises and falls on the place our relationship with Him holds in our lives. And it will always be true, the Lord Jesus does His greatest work in us if we give Him the one thing necessary for that work to happen; alone time with Him. Without alone time with Him, we will not grow in the grace and knowledge of Him. The Christian life will lack reality, genuineness, and what will be most noticeably absent will be life-impacting joy.
In today’s scripture, we have an illustration of this truth of alone time with Jesus and His work as a result. Read the account again. The deaf man with a speech impediment was in a crowd. Jesus pulls him out, takes him into a private setting with Himself, and heals him. The physical story has a spiritual application. Jesus is willing to take us into “alone time” with Him for our growth in Him. The question becomes, “Are we willing to be alone with Him?” Remember, the real spiritual work is done in private and our public lives will reveal just what that private life is all about – alone time with Jesus or not.
PRAYER: “Lord, help me to guard sacred time with you for what I invest in my private life influences my public life.”
QUOTE: “The measurement of our love for Christ will be in the time investment privately to seek fellowship with Him.”