Today’s Scripture: Luke 5:15-16
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Finding time alone can be quite difficult in these busy times, but it is something we must do. Spiritual, mental, emotional and physical fatigue comes from constant engagement with others. The truth is, we become less valuable to people when we fail to withdraw from them intermittently to rest and renew ourselves.
Jesus was accustomed to crowds. In fact, He was constantly besieged by them. His assignment demanded that He reached out to the people. As important as this was, Jesus also knew that the success of His mission required Him to frequently pull away from the crowd for rest and renewal. Today’s scripture says; “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). Now if Jesus needed to find time alone with God, why do you think you can succeed in your assignment without doing the same thing?
One man challenged another to an all-day wood chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to find that the other fellow had chopped substantially more wood than he had.
”I don’t get it,” he said. ”Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did.”
”But you didn’t notice,” said the winning woodsman, “that I was sharpening my axe when I sat down to rest.”
With so little time to meet the varying demands of life, we are tempted to just keep going, but nothing diminishes our capacity faster than going for prolonged periods without pausing to sharpen the saw. Rest is what we do when we withdraw from our activities for a while, and sharpening of the saw is what happens when we turn to God in our rest periods. The truth is, you cannot spend time communing with God and not be refreshed and re-energized. I see you pursuing time alone with God like never before, and I see you emerging better and sharper every time, in Jesus’ name.
Memorize & Meditate:
“For in him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28a
Prayer/Confession:
Father, help me to spend quality time in fellowship with You every day as I take a rest from the activities of life. I ask that You give me the grace to make this a habit, in Jesus’ name.
