Mark 6:31 King James Version
31 And he said unto them, “Come ye
yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while:” for there were many
coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
We often join my brother Elwood and his family and friends
for Friday evening dinner. At the last one I told some family stories, and the
group seemed interested. I’m sure that if I gave a quiz afterwards, the group
would fail it dismally—but one never knows.
I usually drive home through the back streets of Norco on a
road that runs close to the Santa Ana River, the river that gives Riverside its
name. Then we drove around the west and north sides of the La Sierra Hills.
We watched the setting sun as we drove along. The many small
golden clouds in the western sky sported gilded linings, and golden rays of
light shone in every direction. As the sun approached the western slopes of the
Los Angeles Mountains, I stopped in the parking lot at the entrance to the
Hidden Valley Nature Center.
Getting out of the car, I sat on a rock next to the car as
we watched the sun slide slowly and inexorably behind the mountains. The glow
of the clouds morphed gently from shining gold into a rich orange and then faded
into grey as the clouds were engulfed by the earth’s shadow.
The impatience within me wanted me to drive on, but Christ’s
invitation to His disciples who were
so busy they didn’t even have time to eat, “Come ye yourselves apart into a
desert place, and rest a while,” beckoned me to reflect on Christ’s experience.
I’ve
been brought up on Rudyard Kipling’s philosophical poem, “If”—that ends with
this:
“If you
can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s
in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”
I asked
myself what right I had to sit on a rock and watch the beauty of a sunset.
That,
of course, is a standard question that was entirely out of place for the
occasion. We may envision Christ as rising up long before daylight and working
until long after dark every day. It is, however, a vision that only the great
deceiver could thrust upon us. Christ’s life is better envisioned by His
attending a days-long wedding feast and, as His first miracle, providing extra
wine for the feast. I credit Him for the beautiful interlude into an altogether
busy schedule and a gorgeous welcome into His day of rest.
Lord,
thank You for creating rest while You were creating this earthly home for us.
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