Pathways Press.com

Written by Mark Roberts, a contemporary writer.

Nothing can distract us from our true purpose in life like popularity. Even when we know God has called us to some particular work, we can be tempted to focus our energies on some other venture if that’s what people like. Many pastors, for example, find it easier to preach on what makes people like them rather than on what their people actually need. I surely faced that temptation when I was a parish pastor. Business leaders sometimes work long hours because the praise they get at work is much more gratifying than the day-to-day challenges of family life. Popularity is not necessarily bad, of course. But it can be a poor measure of what God wants us to do with our lives. Jesus did not let his popularity distract him from his true purpose. Rather, he remained faithful to his calling. So, he left behind the adoring and needy crowds in Capernaum in order to preach the good news of the kingdom in other places.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”  [Mark 1:35-38]