Mark 6:31
"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
Rest
Rest has become a four letter word in our society. In our age of technology and machines that never tire, stores that never close and cities that never sleep, we forget we are humans and not machines. Our "drive thru" mentality is poisoning us. We become impatient with others when they express a need to rest. We drive and spur them on even more, as if frantic activity was the cure for all ills. Yet, all of us long for rest - deep inside we cry out for rest and peace.
Our Savior has a different attitude towards rest. Jesus calls us to four things in this verse:
He asks us to get away with Him alone to a quiet place and the result will be rest. He wants us to rest. Most of us are never alone with Him and in our modern babel of noise and confusion quiet places are few and far between. Some of us fear being alone and quiet. We get restless, bored and uncomfortable in the stillness. We feel like we should be DOING SOMETHING!
Listen to Him in Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who are wearied and burdened, and I will give you rest."
As followers of the Lord, many of us suffer with Martha Syndrome. We are distracted, worried and weighed down by our attempts at serving the Lord. (Luke 10:38-41) We try to serve the Lord in the way of the world. Try harder - Do more - Just do it. Jesus comes to us and says, "Stop trying, Be more, I have done it for you and in you!"
In Hebrews 4:10 it says, "for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, as God did from His." Have we rested from our own works? Have we stopped trying to earn our salvation or prove to God or our fellow man that we are worthy? If not, it's time to take a retreat with Jesus. Time to be still and know what He has done. Time to contemplate His works and not our own.
Thought for Today:
Jesus, I need your rest. Renew my mind. Help me cease from my own efforts and trust in yours. I come by myself to you in this quiet place for rest and rejuvenation. I thank you Lord. Reveal yourself to me as the One who gives true rest. Quiet my mind and my heart with your Presence and peace.