When he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. (Mark 1:10-12 ESV)
As you read through the gospel accounts of the earthly life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, you never read that Jesus was in a hurry. The Father in heaven gave His beloved Son just the right amount of time to do all He had to do as the Savior of the world. Yet not a single moment of time was wasted, and in our passage for today we read about the instruction of “immediately.”
Once the time had come for Jesus to enter into His earthly ministry of three-plus years, notice how quickly everything got going. After John baptized Jesus in the Jordan river, immediately Jesus saw the heavens open up. After God spoke His powerful proclamation about Jesus from the court room of heaven, immediately the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested by Satan. To be sure, there is no indication of hurry, but there is a clear sense of God’s holy and divine timetable for the accomplishment of His perfect purpose and plan in the life of our Savior. There was simply no room for any wasted time.
For a little more than three years, our Lord Jesus declared and demonstrated the truths of the Gospel everywhere He went. He did it at wedding celebrations. He did it out in the open air. He did it on the sea shore. He did it in the synagogues and in the Temple. He did it at meals and on the sides of mountains. He did it with individuals, with small groups, and with large masses of people too many to number. Yet the Scriptures never give us any indication that our Lord was fretting about not having enough time to do all He had come to do.
From the life of Jesus, the instruction of “immediately” is clear for every one of His disciples: we all have the perfect amount of time to do everything God has called us to do, no more and no less. To groan that “I just don’t have enough time to get everything done” is simply a reminder that you have attempted to do more than God has ordained for you to do. You have the time . . . you have the talent . . . and you have the treasure . . . and you have the temperament . . . to live out your calling in a way that will bring glory to God and good to others.
The reason we know Jesus wasted no time and was never in a hurry, yet accomplished everything He came to do, is because He stayed in close communion with His Father in heaven. He sought His Father. He served His Father. He spoke to His Father. When we follow His lead in living out our calling, we can be assured that the instruction of “immediately” will be the confession of our lives, without any worry or anxiety along the way.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 