Often, when we are in a group seeking to get a lot of things done, the question consistently asked is, “Are you available?”
I’ve been thinking about that, not in terms of getting certain things done, but in terms of character description. So, the question is broader than “do you have the time and willingness to perform this task?” But, are you an available person? What does an available person look like?
He is not encumbered with his possessions. He doesn’t set up too many categories, restrictions, or requirements for relationships. He isn’t preoccupied with his own self-image. He is freed from the constraints of “proving himself” so he has the capacity to listen and respond to the appeals made by others to him.
Jesus is our model for availability. If there is one principle that characterized His life more than any other, it was this. It didn’t matter that the crowd was pressing around Him,
He gave His attention to the woman with the hemorrhage who touched the hem of His garment.
It didn’t matter that He had come to the cool shade tree at the well for rest, He entered into a totally personal relationship with that woman who came to the well at mid-day to escape the cold stares and vicious words of her fellow citizens.
It didn’t matter that Zacchaeus was a scorned man for his cheating, for his exacting every possible cent in taxes from the now over-taxed people.
Jesus was available to all of them, giving attention and responding one at a time. This was the pattern of His life.
The marvelous aspect of this principle of availability is that we have to bring to a relationship only ourselves. It doesn’t require particular skills and training. We simply have to be open and honest, willing to listen and share ourselves. Above all, we have to love the person, and that completes the principle: We are to be available in love.