Come Away By Yoursel
Come Away By Yourselves
“Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.� (Mark 6:31a) These words of Jesus are very challenging in today’s world. He said this to His apostles during His earthly ministry when the demands of the ministry were so great that the Scripture says, “For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.� (Mark 6:31b)
Can you imagine the emotional stall the apostles must have felt? In full run, taking care of all the coming and goings of those in need and the demands of the crowd, and in the middle of all of that, Jesus says to drop it all and come away. Reason does not work with this. It makes sense to take care of the crowd. It makes logical sense to “make haste while the sun shines,� so to speak and do what the people need. Yet, the word of the Lord was to leave it all and rest. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of a very prosperous and flowing ministry, to just drop it all and retreat to quiet and aloneness. What a strange request. Such a request makes no logical, reasonable sense.
Yet, it is the way of the Kingdom of God. The very basis of all Jesus does is “rest.� Not hustle and bustle. He knew there would always be those who had needs, and they would outnumber His apostle’s ability or stamina to answer. “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.� These words reveal the key to how God works.
“Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.� (Matthew 11:28-30) The very essence of following the Lord is rest. His instruction to His apostles on that day was to “come away and rest.� It was to give them the time with Him to breathe, eat, and relax.
Remember, He longs for you to come away with Him, to allow the hurriedness of the day to fade, and to take a few moments to allow Him to nourish your heart and soul. He is always present to us, and we can draw near for that refreshing in just a few short moments of reflective rest. I have found it is in those spaces of “away� time that He speaks and makes His Word real in my being. It is then I am able to allow my “being� to be infused with His likeness.
May your day be filled with His “away� moments.
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.� (Mark 6:31a) These words of Jesus are very challenging in today’s world. He said this to His apostles during His earthly ministry when the demands of the ministry were so great that the Scripture says, “For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.� (Mark 6:31b)
Can you imagine the emotional stall the apostles must have felt? In full run, taking care of all the coming and goings of those in need and the demands of the crowd, and in the middle of all of that, Jesus says to drop it all and come away. Reason does not work with this. It makes sense to take care of the crowd. It makes logical sense to “make haste while the sun shines,� so to speak and do what the people need. Yet, the word of the Lord was to leave it all and rest. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of a very prosperous and flowing ministry, to just drop it all and retreat to quiet and aloneness. What a strange request. Such a request makes no logical, reasonable sense.
Yet, it is the way of the Kingdom of God. The very basis of all Jesus does is “rest.� Not hustle and bustle. He knew there would always be those who had needs, and they would outnumber His apostle’s ability or stamina to answer. “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.� These words reveal the key to how God works.
“Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.� (Matthew 11:28-30) The very essence of following the Lord is rest. His instruction to His apostles on that day was to “come away and rest.� It was to give them the time with Him to breathe, eat, and relax.
Remember, He longs for you to come away with Him, to allow the hurriedness of the day to fade, and to take a few moments to allow Him to nourish your heart and soul. He is always present to us, and we can draw near for that refreshing in just a few short moments of reflective rest. I have found it is in those spaces of “away� time that He speaks and makes His Word real in my being. It is then I am able to allow my “being� to be infused with His likeness.
May your day be filled with His “away� moments.
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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