Drop Everything for People

Sometimes Jesus just drops everything to help someone.
 
After he hears about John the Baptist’s death, “he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself…When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick”(Matt 14:13, 14).  Jesus really wants to pray and regroup, but he drops everything to help people instead.
 
He goes without food to talk to the woman at the well (John 4:31-34).  He interrupts his own journey to raise a widow’s son from the dead (Luke 7:13-14).  My personal favorite is when he stops the parade through Jericho to heal blind Bartimaeus (who won’t shut up!).  “And Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him’”(Mark 10:49).  Over and over again, Jesus drops what he is doing—which is crucially important to the salvation of the world—to help people who are often complete strangers.
 
This challenges me.  I have tasks that demand my attention—for my work, for my family, for my personal goals, and for proper care of my possessions.  I have a limited amount of time.  It is easy to overlook people who need my attention because I am absorbed in what I am doing.  It is easy to resent impositions on my time.  Yet when I ask myself what Jesus would do, it is a no-brainer.  When my kids want my attention, when my Christian brothers reach out to me, and when total strangers have a need, I know that Jesus would drop everything for them.
 
To be clear, Jesus meets the need and still completes his obligations.  He finds time to pray.  He continues his journeys.  But in that moment of decision, he refuses to be so committed to his work that he ignores glaring relational needs around him.
 
Jesus was busy too, but he found time for people.  Drop everything for the people who need you.