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      When Jesus invited a group of first-century Jewish fishermen and political Zealots to follow him, he didn’t mean “Let’s just keep in touch.” He literally meant, “Come with me, right now. Live as I live. Learn a way of life and faith from me by watching.” And some people did, but others did not. It was hardly surprising that young men working in their father’s fishing business walked away from that. The most highly revered career in that time was to be a rabbi. To “give up” a blue-collar job to become the follower of a rabbi (and therefore go into training as a potential future rabbi) was a no-brainer.

      A rabbi’s followers, known as his talmidim in Hebrew, went everywhere with him, not just to hang on his every word and learn theology from him. They followed him everywhere so that they could mimic what he did. They didn’t just want to know what he knew; they wanted to do what he did, live as he lived.

      Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg note:

      To follow a rabbi … involved a literal kind of following, in which disciples often traveled with, lived with and imitated their rabbis, learning not only from what they said but from what they did—from their reactions to everyday life as well as from the manner in which they lived…. This approach to teaching is much more like a traditional apprenticeship than a modern classroom.¹

      Jesus still says to us today, “Follow me.” He never told us to gain a lot of knowledge about him, but rather, to be with him, to remain in him (see John 15), and then, to live as he would in our place—to do what he did.

      We are separated from Jesus’ earthly life by two thousand years, and even larger gaps culturally and religiously. And yet, we can walk through our days with Jesus by our side, trying to live as he lived, gaining strength, comfort, wisdom, and power from his presence.

      PRESENCE PRACTICE

      Today, as you go through your day, imagine that Jesus is with you—a strong, loving presence. All day, whether you are doing housework or caring for children, trading stocks or stocking shelves, driving a forklift or running a company, imagine him alongside you, guiding you.

      When you awaken, lie in bed for just a minute. Say “Good morning, Jesus.” Think about what challenges the day will bring. Ask him to help you face those with courage and wisdom. Ask him to make his presence known to you throughout your day.

      As you eat breakfast, thank him for his provision. As you drive, do so as if Jesus were sitting in the passenger seat. (Do you drive differently than usual as a result? Perhaps you’ll want to ponder that.) Instead of listening to the radio, simply talk to him.

      As you complete the day’s tasks, ask him to help you. When something goes well, thank him. When you face challenges, ask for his help.

      It’s quite likely that you will forget about Jesus when your day gets busy. If so, give yourself copious amounts of grace. Just gently redirect your thoughts back toward him.

      At the end of your day, thank Jesus for his presence with you through your day. Ask him for rest, for the ability to trust. As you fall asleep, ask that he would be your first thought in the morning.

      

Check here when you have completed today’s Presence Practice.

      DAY 3

      SLOW DOWN

       But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

       “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:40-42 NIV)

      In his book The Life You’ve Always Wanted, John Ortberg tells of a conversation with a spiritual mentor, in which he sought advice. After listening to John describe his job, lifestyle, current stresses, and so on, his mentor paused for a long while, then told him, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

      John somewhat impatiently asked him what else was necessary—that sounded good, he thought, but certainly there were other things he should be doing. After another long pause, his mentor replied, “There is nothing else.”¹

      What would it look like to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life”? Because that is the most important issue of the spiritual life. All of the spiritual practices in this book won’t help if your pace of life is unhealthy. This book will encourage you to slow down, to listen, to be mindful—which simply means to pay attention, to notice. As you go through this book, you’ll be asked to consider: Where have you seen God? What are you grateful for? What mistakes do you need to confess? The goal of each chapter is to help you experience the deep love of Jesus. Unfortunately, you cannot experience that love in a hurry.

      Ortberg observes, “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day.”² So many of us want to grow spiritually, want to experience the love of Jesus. So we add spiritual disciplines to an already crammed life and can’t figure out why all we experience is exhaustion. Doing “lots” of disciplines will be counterproductive, making our lives more hectic and therefore less connected to Jesus.

      You are embarking on a forty-day journey. Please—don’t hurry through it. In fact, today is a good day to assess the current level of hurry in your life.

      This book will provide you practical instruction on how to practice a number of spiritual disciplines that believers have used for years to grow closer to God, to experience Jesus’ loving presence. But you must ruthlessly eliminate hurry first. You will have to seriously consider: What other things might I have to prune from my schedule in order to have time to engage in these life-giving disciplines? What busywork is keeping me “worried and distracted” and preventing me from sitting at Jesus’ feet to just listen?

      Slowing does several things. It allows us to pay attention. When you’re driving in unfamiliar territory, trying to read street signs or recognize landmarks, you’ll find that driving faster doesn’t help. Finding your way often requires taking your time.

      Hurried people are fueled by obligation—I have to go here; I have to do this. Moving more slowly allows you to get in touch with what your soul longs for—things you actually want. If you take your time, you will be better able to discern which of those desires are God-given and might even reflect his desire for your life. When we slow down, we reframe those obligations into opportunities because we can see God in them. We change our “have tos” to “get tos.”

      Thomas Kelly wrote: “How, then, shall we lay hold of that Life and Power, and live the life of prayer without ceasing? By quiet, persistent practice in turning all of our being, day and night, in prayer and inward worship and surrender, toward him who calls in the deeps of our souls.”³

      If we are sprinting through life, cell phone in one hand, cappuccino in the other, we cannot “lay hold of that Life and power” that comes when we know we are deeply loved. We cannot experience the healing power of Jesus in our lives. Hurry injures us.

      Because of our culture and its obsession with speed and multitasking, it may seem that slowing down, living mindfully, and connecting with Jesus might be almost impossible. That’s because in our own power it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. He’s placed a longing for himself in our hearts—we must decide to slow down and notice, to pay attention to and follow that longing.

      PRESENCE PRACTICE

      We’re often so used to our crazed pace that we are blind to hurry’s injurious effects on our souls. In their curriculum An Ordinary Day with Jesus, John Ortberg and Ruth Haley Barton offer an inventory to assess the level of hurry in your life. In it, they ask participants

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