Get Some Rest
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” – Jesus (Mark 6:31b)
“The gathering of the disciples to Jesus means that in the midst of business and busyness they are accountable to him alone. And the greater the demands on them, the greater their need to be alone with Jesus.” – James R. Edwards
As we get into the craziness of the final 6 weeks of 2021, things are most likely going to get more intense on your schedule. Every week right up through New Year’s Eve on my calendar looks pretty jam packed. And the temptation for this has-been distance runner, is to take a ‘more effort less sleep approach.’ The crazy lie my brain cooks up is something like this, “If you drink more coffee and sleep less you can get more done each day and that will definitely lead to more productivity.” Of course, never mind the state of my person in such a mode. As a naturally task oriented person, it turns me into a not very nice human to be around. Sure, I may have a check beside all the to-dos but, I can be pretty sure that I’ve neglected the most important relationships in the midst of that flurry of productivity. As if preemptively, Mark 6:30-31 was part of the message text Sunday. And it provides for us all an opportunity. A ‘teachable moment’ as one of my mentors used to call them. He would say to me, “Dan, there is learning we do just in time and learning we do just in case. The kind of learning that will stick with you is the just in time kind.” Well, for me, this rest lesson (which is for sure review) is the just in time kind of learning. As I was studying for the message, I ran across some very practical pointers from Daniel Akin on the topic of rest which struck me both in terms of their wisdom and concise nature. Take a peak and see what you think:
“(1) There is a time to work. Laziness has no place in the Christian life. (2) We should have periods of rest because Jesus tells us to. Being a workaholic is not spiritual and actually can be sinful… (3) Rest is best when accompanied both by solitude and companionship. (4) Rest is for a specific period of time. It is not permanent. (5) Even while resting, be prepared for ministry if necessary. A devoted follower of Jesus is never off duty.”- Daniel Akin (Christ-centered Exposition, Exalting Jesus in Mark, pg. 137)
What becomes very important to us in this crazy schedule time is that we take time to be with Jesus. But, in even that I have to be careful to guard against a task orientation that can short-circuit communion with Jesus. I do advise having a routine to your devotional life but, I would be careful to measure the success of your devotional life against how much it is deepening your relationship with Jesus. You can read the Bible everyday and still not hear from God. Here is the goal: get some rest. Set aside time to be alone with Jesus. Set time to be with others who love and encourage your relationship with and followership of Jesus. Make some appointments in that crazy calendar of yours that have no other agenda than to rest. I pray that as these weeks unfold, you might have sweet moments of rest with Jesus.
“If we don’t come apart, we will come apart.”