Living Like Jesus

“Come away to a deserted place 

all by yourselves and rest a while.”

Mark 6:31

Elaine loves cooking. She loves getting out a recipe, going over the ingredients, and assembling them. She loves mixing the ingredients and putting them in the pot or pan to correctly cook them. Most of all, she enjoys placing the finished dish on the dinner table with its enticing aroma salivating everyone's palate. After grace, comes enjoying the delicious meal.  

But Elaine does other cooking. In one church she prepared a monthly meal for a homeless shelter. In another, she was part of a team that prepared 16 pans of ziti each month which were distributed to several shelters. She was also part of a team that prepared sandwiches for a "Midnight Run" to Manhattan for distribution to street people. In several churches, she was involved in the CROP hunger walk (including co-coordinating one for 13 years). She is an active member of Bread for the World for over 40 years. Currently, she takes our church's food donations to the local food pantry.

Elaine is sustained and energized because she is living like Jesus.

Living like Jesus means having compassion for "the least of these" and acting to care for them. Jesus spent time "Searching the Scriptures" as Wesley called it. Living like Jesus is coming to the Lord's table and be refreshed. Living like Jesus includes times of quiet rest in a deserted place to listen to God.

Each of us has been called by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live like Jesus by using God's gifts to work at building God's kingdom. 

Reflect on how you can use your unique gifts to live more like Jesus.

What kinds of practices have helped you live more like Jesus?