To have an impact on someone is to have an influence on them so that it creates a change in their life. This change can be for good or for bad. As a Christian, I want to influence others for the cause of Christ. We all lead by example more than we do with our words. If I want to influence someone to be more like Jesus, then the first thing I must do is get to know Him better myself. Before you can give something, you must obtain it yourself.
If I want to know God, I must follow the example of the Son. Over and over in scripture, we see Jesus leaving the crowds to get alone with His Father. When we want to cultivate a relationship with someone, there is no substitute for spending time alone with them.
In Matthew chapter 14, Jesus had been teaching the multitudes all day, he even performed a miracle to feed the thousands that were following Him, but when He was finished he sent His disciples to a ship, and as the crowd dispersed, He went up in the mountain to pray. He felt the need and desire to spend time with the Father.
Matthew 14:22-23 “And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening came, he was there alone.”
The word straightway in verse 22 means “immediately.” It was important enough to Jesus that He wasted no time preparing to be alone with God. He could have gotten away from the crowds with His disciples and spent time talking about how the day had gone. They could have had a good time talking about how the crowd responded to the miracle of Jesus taking some fish and a couple of loaves of bread and feeding them all. I think so much of the time we bask in the glory of what God has done rather than run to Him to thank Him for what He has done. When this is our response, we learn about Him by seeing what He has done, but we don’t get to know Him!
Jesus gives another example in Luke 6:12. We find Jesus leaving those who would persecute Him to run to the Father. The Pharisees were looking for an opportunity to find fault with Him. When He healed on the Sabbath, they felt they now had an accusation against Him that would hold up in their courts. Instead of staying and defending His actions, He left and went up to the mountain alone to pray to His Father. At this time, things were getting a little dangerous for Jesus. He could have taken His disciples with Him and felt safety in numbers, but He didn’t. He wanted to spend time with His Father free from interruption. Going alone would allow Him to pour His heart out to God without thinking about anyone but God and Himself.
Luke 6:12 “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”
Jesus gave us examples of how we are to have an impact on others. We must spend time alone with the Father. We must spend time pouring out our hearts in praise to God. Then, we must read His word and allow the truth to sink into our soul so that we will be changed to be more like Him. Skipping prayer or study will cause us to make the wrong impact on others. The first step must be getting to know God through His Son Jesus. He gives us a perfect pattern to follow, but it is up to us to put the effort into knowing Him. Any relationship takes work, but none is so worthy as your relationship with the Father and Son.
