LUKE 4:42 – And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them…
THEME OF THE DAY. FREQUENTING THE DESOLATE PLACE. In addition to today’s scripture, the Gospels record three other times Jesus retreated away from the busyness of life and demands upon Him. Here they are . . . “Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself” (Matthew 14:13a); “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1:35); “And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place” (Luke 4:42a). In the Mark and Luke accounts to include today’s scripture, we are given the reason for Jesus going into a desolate place. It was for prayer.
The scriptures tell us our Lord Jesus would often retreat from the busyness in His life, the demands of people upon His time, and seek alone time with His Father. The Apostle Luke writes, “But Jesus would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” If the Son of God knew and practiced the importance of alone time with His Father, how much more do we frail and weak sheep need to follow His example? The application is we must establish regular and uncompromised time away from people and responsibilities to be with the Lord in prayer and His Word. And it cannot be a place of distractions. The very quality and health of our spiritual lives is at stake and that in four vital areas in the Christian life.
First, we need alone time in the Word and prayer with the Lord to know Him. Earthly busyness produces spiritual barrenness. It takes time to know the Lord. It takes time to “Be still and know that He is God” (Psalm 46:10). We simply cannot grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus if we are living on “spiritual snack food” – a short devotion here, a little podcast here, and reliance on one sermon heard in our churches a week. We will remain spiritual infants if we neglect going to our desolate place.
Next, we need alone time in the Word and prayer with the Lord to prevent worldliness. What gets the best and the most of our time will shape our mind. If we are constantly immersed in the world and neglectful of the Word, worldliness will rule us. We are constantly being shaped in our thinking and thus living by one of two sources; the Word or the world. Without retreating away to our desolate place for time with the Lord, the world will win out.
A third reason for alone time with the Lord is to refresh our souls. Jesus didn’t retreat to be with His Father because He needed something. His prayer life was not one of approaching a “vending machine” God, put the petition in the slot, and wait for the answer. No. The Lord sought refreshment through fellowship with His Father. And so must we. Prayer and the Word must be viewed and practiced as disciplines of delight for the refreshing of our souls and giving us the joy of the Lord as our strength to do what He has called us to do. Neglect the desolate place, and there is no refreshment for our souls. Instead of a heart of good soil for the Fruit of the Spirit to grow, we will be a dry desert with no life.
Finally, we need to go often to our desolate place to be with the Lord to maintain perspective on life. Our lives are to be first and foremost oriented around eternal priorities and eternal perspectives. And that can only come from time alone with Him who inhabits eternity and gives eternal life. If we are too busy for and too distracted from the Lord, we will live with temporal interests and temporal perspective guiding our lives. To do so will cause us to lose a sense of mission and the ability to be salt and light in a decaying culture.
Friends, as we consider today’s nugget and the need to follow the Lord’s pattern, remember that our spiritual life is like a flower or plant. If they don’t get the proper nutrients and water, they wither and die. It will be the same in our spiritual lives. Don’t make alone time with the Lord a priority, a guarded priority, and we will wither in our walks with the Lord Jesus.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to guard private time with You as my spiritual health is at stake.”
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QUOTE: “Quiet times with the Lord are necessary times with the Lord.”