Rest - Pt 3

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. (Mark 6:30-31 ESV). One final thought about rest: Jesus took special times to rest from labor. This is what we might think of as a “vacation.” It is interesting that he said that right after these brothers buried what they could get of John the Baptist’s body. Remember he was beheaded, (cf. Mark 6:14-29). They risked their own lives to retrieve either his body or head, or both for burial. Undoubtedly it was a time of high stress and difficulty. Jesus said to them, “Come away and rest a while.”

So, my summary is this: Vacations become a matter of wisdom. We should try to know ourselves, know our families. It seems to me in this fallen age where the focus is on redemption, the final rest that we are promised is only tasted incrementally and as a means of more productive labor in this redemptive age. Play and recreation in this age are not the main way we glorify God. It is secondary, I think, and it is a means of refreshing us and inspiring us for productive labor. We work to advance God’s saving kingdom in a fallen world, and that is true whether we are in secular work or so-called Christian work. Vacations and sabbaths and days off and nights of sleep are recreations of creative, happy, fruitful labor for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom in the world, whether you are in a secular work or not. And, of course, there is no clear line for many of us between vocation and recreation. Many of us so love what we do and find so much pleasure in it and are so energized by it that the concept of taking time for recreation for the sake of creation is not so clear. For those folks, we need to make sure that we know not only ourselves, but we need to know those around us. Because our wives may not feel the same and our kids may need us when we are just super energized by our work. And that is not what they need at this time and vacation can count for that as well as for us. So, as soon as the doctors find a way to fix my physical heart, I’m going to find a way to go away for a little while to fix my spiritual heart a little more. Our spiritual heart is wrapped in or minds and our emotions. I can’t imagine a better way to do that than by going to the mountains and visiting with dear friends along the way. It has been too long since I have seen some of them. Maybe it’s been too long for you as well. Perhaps you need a rest.