"And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and
to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes
away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a
mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there
alone." Matthew 14:22
Genesis 32:22-32
The multitude is anything that has the capacity of distracting from the essential. But if one does not know what the essential is, he will be cumberred with the nonessentials of life. If for example, being alone with God is counted as the essential, whatever has the ability of taking you out of the place of prayer will be adjudged to be the multitude to be sent away. Whatever eats into your prayer time is the multitude that you have to put away. In our present time, engagement with social media is the multitude that most people have to get out of the way in order to spend quality time with God. For others, it may be unprofitable associations.
But putting away the multitude can be a difficult task if they have become entrenched in our lives. It will take a determined resolve to put away such multitudes, but if, however, what we term as essential is truly essential, nothing will be too much to give up for it. So, how important, for example, is being alone with God to you? If it is, then it will be worth putting away the multitude, no matter how deeply entrenched they have gotten into the fabric of your life.
Toni
Genesis 32:22-32
The multitude is anything that has the capacity of distracting from the essential. But if one does not know what the essential is, he will be cumberred with the nonessentials of life. If for example, being alone with God is counted as the essential, whatever has the ability of taking you out of the place of prayer will be adjudged to be the multitude to be sent away. Whatever eats into your prayer time is the multitude that you have to put away. In our present time, engagement with social media is the multitude that most people have to get out of the way in order to spend quality time with God. For others, it may be unprofitable associations.
But putting away the multitude can be a difficult task if they have become entrenched in our lives. It will take a determined resolve to put away such multitudes, but if, however, what we term as essential is truly essential, nothing will be too much to give up for it. So, how important, for example, is being alone with God to you? If it is, then it will be worth putting away the multitude, no matter how deeply entrenched they have gotten into the fabric of your life.
Toni
