Follow The Instructions
[This week the Gas Street Operations Team look at Jesus from the perspective of their own roles]
Jesus as the Health and Safety Manager by Jerome Belgrave
Mark 3:7-12 (NIV)
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell before him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.
The crowds were following Jesus around because of the incredible power he had of healing the sick. And we can see Jesus conducting, in modern terms, a ‘risk assessment’! He instructed all of his disciples to get a small boat ready for him, in case the large crowd crushed him and each other (v9). Now, Jesus could have chosen to hold back the crowd with his mighty power, but instead, he chooses to teach the disciples a practical way to manage large crowds. This may be something that might not seem important on that particular day, but Jesus is teaching the disciples for future days; for the days when he would not be around in person to help deal with the crowd. He is demonstrating how the disciples will (in the future), be able to deal with these healings in a safe way. Jesus is the Lord of common sense as well as the supernatural.
In modern days, we have risk assessments to help us manage any future risk, based on past knowledge. And that can apply to our spiritual health. We need to ‘risk assess’ our spiritual health. Daily reading of the Bible, exposing ourselves to God’s words and responding in prayer and worship, is the best health and safety management that we can do, for both our spiritual and physical well-being.
In your workplace, school, or church or anywhere you are, follow safety instructions! More important still, follow Jesus’ instructions to care for everyone and avoid putting others at risk, whether physically, mentally or spiritually. That’s an important aspect of love.
Prayer: Father protect us as we go about our daily lives, guide us and care for us as we show your love to others by the way we treat and respect them.