My Main Mentor

Luke 9:10  On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. 


I can imagine how the twelve felt as they were returning with the stories of all that God had done before their very eyes. He had used them do many powerful thing, things with at least some similarities to the things Jesus was doing. The gospels say that Jesus went from place to place proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand and healed the sick and cast out demons. Those were the instructions given to the twelve when the were sent. The twelve must have been flying with excitement at what had happened. In one gospel account of this same occurrence it said they came back rejoicing and jesus told them not to rejoice because of all that had happened but because their names were written in the book of life.  Jesus pulled them aside to listen and to mentor them. I'm sure he was working to focus them on some important realities. It would have been easy for them to get all puffed up and think that they were just the greatest thing (I'd say since sliced bread but they didn't have sliced bread yet). They probably had that look what I can do attitude which is such an easy trap to fall into when serving God. Jesus was saying calm down let's put this in it's proper perspective before it gets out of hand. God did these things not you and you can't take the credit. At the same time that he want to reduce their pride he wanted them to continue to be channels of God's power. That's the important balance. If we get puffed up and lose our humility God can't keep working through us because the glory would be misplaced so with something to check our pride we lose effectiveness and quit. What happens then is God's work ceases to be accomplished until we put ourselves back in our proper relationship to God.


I've seen what God can accomplish through very human vessels. At times it has even been through me, and I have to say that, especially early in my journey, I rejoiced in my power and for a time lost it. I try to daily answer three questions in my life, "Who is God?", the source of all power. "Who am I?", A channel of that power., and "Who are you?", God's desired destination for the power he let's me use today. Those are pieces of my answers to those basic but complex questions. Jesu continues to want me and all his disciples to go away with him to a solitary place where he can listen to us and mentor us. His desire is to affirm us and correct us, to listen to where we've been and to guide us to where we're going, and to make sure our names are forever written in the book of life.