Gathering to pray at the harbour for the nation. |
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What a great morning celebrating the marriage of Joe and Nikki. |
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The best of relationships can quickly descend in to a mud-slinging match. |
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Joe reaffirms his baptism vows, Nikki and Kira are baptised on 19th Feb 2012. |
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Take a break?
Jesus didn’t take holidays. He did not jet off into the sun or hire a motor home or go camping with his extended family. He never had a stick of rock from Torquay nor did he go crabbing in the harbour. You could be forgiven for thinking that with Jesus it was all work and no play.
Maybe he was the kind of guy who would have always have been at his desk at 8am. Working longer hours than anyone else and was first in the queue to do over time. Working with so much passion that at the end of the day there was nothing left for anyone else.
Jesus was not like that!
Jesus was the kind of guy that people kept on losing. When he needed a rest he would retreat to the hills and escape the crowd. He was great at getting off the beaten track and finding those places you could really rest and relax in.
Taking life at different pace for a while is so important. The idea of a “holiday” is largely a modern
invention but the idea of getting proper rest in season is a Godly one. We all benefit from a change in gear and
changing content every so often.
Thankfully our kids have now broken up for the summer. A good job as “end-of- term-itus” had begun to set in. You know the point in the school term when the children have gone beyond tired and beyond reason (it happens in most schools towards the end of the term). What they need is a change of gear and a change of context, a rest.
Sometime when I wear grey shirts and when I am tired Meghan says that I have gone the same colour as my shirt. Grey and in need of a rest!
But Jesus was not like that.
He was working to a different song, a completely different rhythm. It is a rhythm that begins with God the Father. On the seventh day God rested from all his work. But for us this was the first day. The first day was a day of rest! Sometimes Jesus slept because he was tired. But mostly his rest was the beginning of everything. He worked from a place of having rested in his Father.
So as you take a little time to rest during this holiday season. Make sure that it’s the fullest and deepest rest that you can get; resting in the presence of God. Then maybe you will turn the tables on the cultural idea of the need for a holiday. Then maybe you will enter next term well rested, full of the life of God and ready for work.
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Mark Searle, 22/07/2011 |
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