Episode 167: Unlimited Locations
When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. (Mark 2: 1,2)
As we start chapter 2, we see Jesus back at home in Capernaum. When people found out He was at home, they came in droves to get to Him. They could have waited until the Sabbath and met him in the synagogue where He was sure to be teaching soon. These people weren’t willing to wait. They wanted to get to Jesus. Some wanted healing. Some wanted teaching. Some were there to watch closely for Him to make a mistake. for one reason or another, people were creating the opportunity to see Jesus, not merely waiting for Him to show up on the designated day of worship.
Jesus didn’t turn them away. He didn’t tell them to wait for Him in the synagogue. on another day. With the crowd arriving at His home, Jesus gave them the most important thing He had, He began to speak the Word to them. We see Jesus do this at other times in His ministry when a crowd gathers around Him. Whenever there is an audience coming to Him, Jesus teaches the Word. Whether it was at the synagogue, in His home, on a hillside, or in the wilderness, Jesus taught the Word. He wasn’t caught up in location. Every occasion was fit for the teaching of the Word.
We tend to compartmentalize our lives. We have work life, home life, hobby life, and church life. We even compartmentalize friend groups so that we live in different worlds without any of them intersecting. We allow buildings and locations to determine who we talk to, how we talk to them, and what we talk about. The thought of bringing all of these worlds together never crosses our mind. In fact, we work to keep them apart. We have a building for work where work stuff takes place but doesn’t leave the walls. We have a building for our home life where we dare not bring work problems lest it mess up the harmony. And, we have a building we call the church where we go to worship only on certain days at certain times. We will invite people to our church building which is merely an invitation to join us in that compartment of our lives.
If Jesus moved into our neighborhood, would we invite Him to our house during the week? Would we go knock on His door on any day just to be in His presence? Would we invite Him to come hang with us at work? Would we bring Jesus to the ballpark with us for our kid’s games? Would He be invited to game night with our friends? Or would we simply wait to see Him on Sunday within the walls of the church building where He belongs?
In real estate and business we often hear the most important factor in success is location, location, location. The right location will guarantee a better return on your investment. Proper placement will deliver more traffic and yield better results. Jesus show us that location doesn’t matter when it comes to the Word of God. It’s not the address of the building that determines the purpose of the people in it. The Word of God cannot be surrounded by walls or boxed in on calendars. Jesus teaches us not to look at the location but to take advantage of the occasion.
Let us be a people who no longer live multiple lives in many boxes but live one life for the Lord. Let us no longer look for locations but instead recognize and rise to the occasions to speak the Word. In every location and at every opportunity, let Jesus be in every part of our lives.
Love Y’all! Be Blessed!
Let Us Be A People 