READING:
One-year plan: Numbers 5-6, Mark 6:30-56
Two-year plan: Exodus 14:15-15:27, Matthew 20:1-16
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I am not good at resting. Urgency for the Great Commission task, coupled with my personal desire to make a difference (and frankly, with my workaholism) drives me forward into activity and work. I just don’t do well at “getting away.” I stay busy.
The disciples were busy, too, especially as Jesus grew in popularity. And, they had their own ministry that God blessed as they cast out demons and healed the sick. Amid the busyness of His ministry, then, Jesus called them to step away from their activity and get some rest. They sought refuge in a remote place, but they faced a problem: “many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them” (Mark 6:33). The crowd stood in the way of rest.
Jesus, though, still had compassion on the crowd as “sheep without a shepherd.” When the crowd might have bothered him, He took advantage of the opportunity to teach them. I read these stories, and I’m reminded that ministry today is similar: we have to work diligently to get rest, but the needs of people are still around us. Learning to live in this tension is just part of our work.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: How do you view the people around you? Do you have compassion on them?
PRAYER: “Father, help me to get away and to minister.”
TOMORROW’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Numbers 7-8, Mark 7
Two-year plan: Exodus 16, Matthew 20:17-34
