Cultivating Jesus

I had an opportunity to hear an excellent teacher last night, professor Don Martin from Continental Theological Seminary in Belgium. He shared about how Jesus was always cultivating His relationship with the Father. Jesus give us the perfect pattern because the cultivation of true relationship with our Heavenly Father is not just reading the Word, or spending time in prayer, or even doing the will of the Father, but it is the wholeness of all of those disciplines. Jesus spent time learning the scriptures, He spent time alone with the Father, and he walked out a submissive life in obedience everyday. We try to put everything in a nice neat package and tell people if they just know the Word their OK, or of they have a good prayer life, thats all you need, or if we just get connected and have relationship with people and live it out, then we're on the mark, but none of those things in and of themselves are enough. Jesus is wholeness, He is the beginning and the end, He is the life that results from my dying self and living sacrifice to Him. He is the wholeness of who I am. He is the Word, and prayer, and living to me.

We spend far too much time trying to cultivate other things. I want to cultivate Jesus in my life. I want to read about Him, and speak with Him, and worship Him, and live for Him, and share Him with others. Jesus was obedient to go through Samaria because He knew it was the Father's will that He do so. I believe He did not know what would happen that day, but it was as simple as the Father leading Him and He went. Imagine His excitement when He found out the Father would give Him yet another opportunity to allow the love of God to flow from His life to this woman.

I'm glad Jesus cultivated His relationship with the Father, aren't you?

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