Learning To Live Like Jesus

Luke 9:12- Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place."   NASU
 

• People's Suggestions

 
The first lesson we can learn from this text is Jesus didn't let "People's Suggestions" influence His decision making. Jesus was a praying man. He was constantly in prayer to the Heavenly Father. He had the Holy Spirit without measure.
 
John says it this way: "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure."
 
He was in contact with His Heavenly Father through prayer and this is what helped Him make decisions.
 
The disciple's "suggestion" is for Jesus to send the people (crowd) away.  Jesus knows immediately this is not what His Father would want Him to do. He doesn't send them away. If you know the story of the feeding of the 5,000 you know instead of Him sending them away He will feed them.
 
In the movie The Boys in the Boat the coach decided to go with the JV team of rowers because their time was faster than the Varsity rowers. Just about everyone disagreed with Coach Ulbrickson's decision, but he had a rule and that is the team with the fastest time was the team that would be putting their boat in the water.
 
Coach Ulbrickson would not allow other "people's suggestions" to determine for him a decision that rested squarely upon his shoulders.
 

• What's Our Plan?

 
Our plan should be like Jesus' plan. We should be praying to our Heavenly Father and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us. The Spirit will be able to guide us when we have the Word of God dwelling in us. Here is how the apostle Paul said it: Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom… (Col 3:16).
 
The more the Word of God gets in us (through reading) the easier it will be to identify immediately "people's suggestions" as being correct or incorrect.
 
One thing to remember in life and that is if the decision is yours to make then make it and be willing to live with the results. The disciples were giving Jesus their suggestion and it was a unanimous "send them away".
 
However, Jesus had a much better idea and that was feed all 5,000. You might ask why did Jesus feed the 5,000 and the correct would be because He could.
 
Why are you going to do what lies before you? The correct answer would be because God is leading you in this direction and He has equipped you for this task.
 
Think About These:

No one can give you wiser advice than God.
 
The more you trust God the easier it becomes to do the hard things.
 
You'll never find peace of mind until you've learned to listen to God.
 
“Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.” – Steve Jobs

Stay Pumped, 

Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word