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I am using the YouVersion 49 Week Bible Challenge for these devotions. Today’s readings are Luke 6; Proverbs 21; Psalm 79; Isaiah 15; 16.
Luke 6:12-19
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 8 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
The opinion of Jesus’ family notwithstanding (cf. Mark 3:20-21), Jesus lived a balanced life. His love for God was perfect and sincere. His love for his followers was clear and pure. His love for the lost was boundless and sacrificial. That is a balance for which Jesus’ followers should strive. It is the kind of life that can bring eternal blessings to others. It is the kind of life that honors God.
Jesus’ balanced life shows up here in Luke’s Gospel. You can see it in how Jesus spent time in prayer, deeply and purposefully connecting with the Father. This wasn’t a formalistic prayer. It was far more than ritual. That is true even as Jesus very likely used ritual in his personal prayer life. He likely prayed the Psalms. He may well have used the language of the Synagogue and the temple liturgies in his prayer life. But it was not mere pro forma. Bottom line: the balance of Jesus’ life was anchored in a life of prayerful dependence on God the Father.
Jesus also cared for his followers. He calls the disciples together after spending time in prayer, and chooses 12 Apostles. He will lean in to these 12 more than all the rest. He loves them all, and will teach, guide, and equip them for a balanced life of faithfulness and love. They will be entrusted with shaping and norming the nascent church after his ascension.
Jesus’ ultimate purpose was to seek and save the lost (cf. Luke 19:10). After Jesus prays and calls his disciples and names 12 of them Apostles (“sent ones”), he engages with the lost, the hurting, the sick and demon-possessed. Luke records how power went out from him and he healed them all. Jesus gives himself to lost people and ultimately not only power will go out from him. But his very life blood will go out for them.
Jesus was singularly tasked with saving the world. Our vocations are not quite as earth shattering as Jesus’ calling. But we can seek to balance our lives in the same manner as he did: love for God, love for neighbor, and love for the lost. I have been blessed by people who have had that balance. I hope you have too. And I hope we all can touch others’ lives in that same way.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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