13-19 He climbed a mountain and invited those he wanted with him. They climbed together. He settled on twelve, and designated them apostles. The plan was that they would be with him, and he would send them out to proclaim the Word and give them authority to banish demons. These are the Twelve:

Simon (Jesus later named him Peter, meaning “Rock”),
James, son of Zebedee,
John, brother of James (Jesus nicknamed the Zebedee brothers Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),
Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
Simon the Canaanite,
Judas Iscariot (who betrayed him).

What strike me this morning about this short passage is the climb with the chosen and the plan. Jesus, after praying, gets direction from the Father, God and then chooses who he will spend three important years pouring his life into The Twelve. He will leave them to do what He did to even more people than He reached while he was in human form on earth. That was the plan, that they “would be with Him” and then He “would send them out”.

As we study God’s Word and listen to what God is saying to us the message is clear. BE with me, CLIMB the mountain and LEARN from me. Then I will SEND you out to tell others what I have told you. The authority to do so comes from Jesus.

Dear Heavenly Father, We like to jump ahead of you, thinking we have the answers, and then we discover that we don’t. We must climb the mountain with You, be with you ourselves and be nourished and filled by You. We will make much better tellers of YOUR story if we do so. Do not ever let us forget to BE so you can then send us out. In Jesus Name, Amen