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Scripture:

"Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. When he went ashore he saw a large crowd and felt compassion for them and healed their sick." Matthew 14: 13-14

Observation:

Jesus never lead from His emotions. He used His emotions and responded to situations using His emotions, but He never allowed Himself to be ruled by them. In this passage He is tired. He is distraught. He is seeking a quiet place. But the crowds have followed Him. As He looks upon them, His emotions give way to His heart for the people. Instead of being frustrated with the them; He felt compassion.

Application:

The life of Jesus is amazing. Many times I read His stories and it is very easy to lock into the great miracles that He performed. But to me, the greatest miracle of all is how Christ managed His emotions. I really stink at that. They get the best of me. At times, I feel like they drag me around and I am totally helpless at resisting them.

If I put myself in this story, I send the people away. I do. There is no way that compassion for them would have been able to overcome the neediness of my soul or the strong arm of my emotions; I would have just gone away. I could have justified it. I could have created an airtight case that fully supported my reasons for not dealing with the crowd. But I would have missed out on one of the greatest miracles of all time.

Prayer:

I am self-centered, self-focused, and self-serving. So much of my time and energy goes into assessing my problems and then attempting to patch and mend my soul and emotions that I often find myself tired and weary. All my energy has been taken away. I have nothing left for anyone because I spent it all on myself.

You are not my deliverer, I am. You are not my strength, I am my own strength. I do not depend on You to rescue me, I save myself. This is my sin and I need Your help in overcoming it. I desire today to seek You first in all things. To run to You as my ultimate deliverer.

My life is fleeting and I have seen many years pass me by. That said, I have many years left to go. Teach me to number my days and live each one with a sense or urgency and purpose.