Lent is a season to slow down and prepare our hearts for Easter. In this meditation series, we’ll pause together to encounter Jesus—seeing Him through the eyes of those who met Him in Scripture. Each interaction reveals His heart of compassion, grace, and truth, inviting us to reflect on how He wants to meet us today.

In this first meditation, we step into a moment early in Jesus’s ministry—when crowds were pressing in, desperate for His help. After a long night of healing, He arose before the sun was up and slipped away to be alone with His Father. Then, instead of returning to the needy crowds, He told the disciples it was time to move on.

As we meditate on Mark 1:32-39, we’ll reflect on Jesus’s priorities and what He might want to show us about our own.

I’ve also created a FREE Lent Journal to help you reflect and pray through each meditation. It includes the Scripture passages, reflection prompts, and space to process your time with the Lord. You can download it here.

Here are some additional helpful links:

Download your free LENT guide here.

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The entire meditation text is as follows:

Mark 1:32-39, NET

When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to (Jesus) all who were sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered by the door. So he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. But he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Then Jesus got up early in the morning when it was still very dark, departed, and went out to a deserted place, and there he spent time in prayer. Simon and his companions searched for him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He replied, “Let us go elsewhere, into the surrounding villages, so that I can preach there too. For that is what I came out here to do.” So he went into all of Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

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