When They Were Alone...

"And with many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable he did not speak to them. AND WHEN THEY WERE ALONE, he explained all things to his disciples." Mark 4:33 We've many times heard people say they don't read the Bible because they can't understand it. But that is no excuse for rejecting the Word of God. The Creator didn't place mankind on earth and then turn away and leave saying, "Good luck, I hope you make it." No, he gave us his Word so that we could know why we're here, what it's all about, where we're going, and how we're going to get there. This theme is repeated throughout the Bible, and it's simple enough and obvious enough that anyone will understand it because it's the Spirit of God who takes the words and actualizes them in the soul. The Word of God is the food God has provided for the soul. But let's look closer for a moment at the complaint, "I can't understand it." First of all, those who say this are mostly those who haven't read it. In other words, it's an excuse. "God, I'm really not interested in what you have to say, I just don't have time for it. I'm really not interested." How we spend our time is totally up to us. We set priorities and live by them. If we were to review how we do spend our time, surely we could fit in space to put in the most crucial and important thing we can do in life, and that is - spending time alone with Him. If reading Facebook is something we feel we must do, but reading the Word of God is relegated to "when I have time," then our priorities are faulty. How can social media be more important than spending time with the One who created us, the One who has a specific plan for each life, and who wants to share relationship with us? Yet HE is what is most neglected in the lives of most so that they'll have time to watch ball games or to chat on the phone with friends. I have heard children speak of passages in the Bible. It CAN be understood. Surely the Word of God will touch and teach each heart who truly wants to know it. And that's where the fault lies - most don't care to know it. They wouldn't admit it, but isn't it the truth? Satan has won many victories by managing to divert peoples' focus on anything other than their Creator. He whispers, "I just don't have time," into their minds, and that message is believed. But it's a lie. There IS time enough for anyone whose heart pants after God; and anyone who has been born again WILL have a heart that pants after God. So the struggle comes down to the whispers of the enemy that this, that, or the other, is all one has time for and IF there's time left, maybe he'll spend time with God, knowing of course that there won’t be time. There never is. There is a great truth easily overlooked in the passage above. "When they were alone, he explained all things..." In other words, many won't understand what he says, BUT he WILL explain what he says to those who choose to spend time ALONE with him. His disciples were Galilee fishermen, and we see in the stories recorded in the Gospels that often they didn't "get it" time and time again. But their Lord doesn't leave them in that state. He takes them aside, "AND WHEN THEY WERE ALONE, he explained all things to his disciples." This Scripture reveals to us the secret to understanding the things of God - SPENDING TIME ALONE WITH HIM. If one is not willing to set aside time daily to spend alone with the Lord, then life will pass him by and he will have missed the treasures God would have revealed to him. He will have missed the very essence of life, which is to know God, and to walk with him.