Last week, the Chaplain’s Corner was about recharging yourself for God’s work. I imagine that if you even had time to read the devotion, your first thought was: “When will I have time to do all this? Don’t you realize the hours I’m already working?” Let me respond by suggesting that you look at the life of Jesus. A participant in one of my Bible studies once made a remarkable statement about the life of Jesus. She said something like this:

“Even though Jesus knew he would only have about three years of ministry, and even though  he knew more than anyone the scope of his ministry, he was never in a rush.”

I’m telling you this really speaks to me. Just give me a deadline and I become a whirling dervish of activity. I can easily become more concerned about the “doing” than the “who,” just being honest. How can I become more like Jesus? Maybe another way to ask the question is how I can become more like Mary. In the biblical descriptions of the Mary and Martha (sisters of Lazarus), many of my friends (me included) identify more with Martha. We have experienced the times when we seem to be the only ones working in the kitchen to get the meal prepared or wash the dishes, while certain family members are just hanging out. Like the story from Luke 10:38-42: When Martha got upset about Mary who just wanted to hang with Jesus rather than helping in the kitchen (after all, it was nearly time for dinner and all these people are coming), Jesus chided her, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

What secret had Mary discovered? And what was Jesus’ secret? How could he always be so “in the moment” and focused on his people? Let’s look at some examples:

First, Jesus knew what his priorities were, and to whom he answered. Jesus had just fed the five thousand and then walked on water. The crowds have now chased him around the lake. He was probably exhausted, but he took the time to preach more words of life. “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day” (John 6:38-39).

Second, Jesus knew that God was ultimately in control of his schedule. “So, the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love (Lazarus) is sick.’ When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea’” (John 11:3-7).

Third, Jesus knew that God was sovereign over his time. Speaking to his disciples: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36). “Therefore, Jesus told them, ‘My time is not yet here; for you, any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come” (John 7:6-8).

The Gospels tell us that Jesus often got alone, not just for some rest and a change of pace, but also that He might spend time in communion with His heavenly Father. Notice these observations by His disciples:

1. “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and He was alone there for forty days, except for when the Devil came to tempt Him” (Matt. 4:1–11).
2. “After he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone” (Matt. 14:23).
3. “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).
4. “When it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place” (Luke 4:42).

Jesus often sought solitude to have time alone with his Father. Jesus not only modeled prayer in solitude, He exhorted us to do the same: “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (Matt. 6:6). Jesus knew how to plug in to his power source to recharge (see last week’s devotion).

All this does not mean that Jesus didn’t also do the work he was called to do, and it doesn’t mean that he didn’t find time to enjoy being with his disciples, with his friends, and even with sinners and Pharisees. It seems that he liked a good party. There are stories about inviting himself to Zacchaeus’ (tax collector) house and also having dinner at Simon’s home. His first miracle was at a wedding, which was always a large family affair.

But in all things, He focused on the One Thing that mattered—submitting to the sovereign will of his Father in Heaven.

In 2026 I am challenging myself to live more like Jesus did, and to be concerned about the One Thing that is worth being concerned about, and that is to seek the presence of my heavenly Father, seeking to rest in his presence and to glorify him in obedience to His will.

”One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).

In Christ,

Judy