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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK
Jesus, help me honor my promises to people without spreading myself too thin! Amen.


Jesus went to Simon and Andrew's house, where Simon's mother-in-law was sick. He took her hand, and she was well again! Then everyone else who was sick came to be healed. Jesus went out alone to pray, but His followers told Him, "Everyone's looking for you." Jesus said, "Let's go to other towns." He traveled all over, teaching and healing wherever He went.

There are some weeks when it's just impossible to do everything. If you go to soccer practice, you'll miss a birthday party; if you catch a movie, you won't have enough time to study for midterms. It's easy to "spread yourself thin," trying to juggle your schedule and get around to everything.

Jesus could relate. In this week's Gospel (Mark 1:29-39), He cures someone in one town, and then everyone else who's sick shows up at the door, wanting to be healed. He doesn't have time even to pray - and that one town wants to hog all of His time.

No kid can do everything. You do have to make sacrifices - putting off a movie until after a test (it can be your reward for getting through midterms) or honoring a promise to hang out with one friend when another one wants to make plans.

Even Jesus could only spread Himself so thin. In the Gospel story, He told the Apostles that it was time to move on to other towns. It wasn't fair for one group of people to demand He stay with them; He came to help everyone get closer to God, not just a single town.

When you're making plans, it's good to think about who you've seen lately and who you haven't. If you're committed to your soccer team, that may have to come before the birthday party - but you can plan to see the birthday kid another time. Jesus' example shows that a little time with people can go a long way![[In-content Ad]]

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