“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.”
The Rest
Jesus names something worth taking seriously here, no leisure so much as to eat, worth holding as honest acknowledgment of genuine, ministry-driven exhaustion, the disciples so busy with legitimately good work that even basic, necessary eating had become genuinely difficult, worth recognizing in your own life.
Notice come ye yourselves apart, Jesus’s own direct instruction, not vague encouragement but specific, active command, worth examining against however much you have assumed rest requires your own initiative alone, rather than this verse’s own model, Jesus himself actively initiating and instructing this needed rest.
This is worth applying against however much your own busyness has felt entirely justified, genuinely good work leaving no actual room for rest, the same situation these disciples genuinely faced, worth holding as needed permission that even legitimately important work still, actually requires this described, deliberate apart.
Whatever legitimately good work currently leaves you with no leisure so much as to eat, receive today Jesus’s own direct instruction as genuinely addressed to you. Come ye apart, and rest a while, not despite your genuinely important work, but precisely because it has become this genuinely, actually exhausting.
Practice Rest
- Notice honestly whether legitimately good work has left you with no actual leisure, even to eat.
- Receive Jesus’s own direct instruction today, not waiting for your own initiative alone.
- Come apart today, specifically, even briefly, following this verse’s own active command.
Prayer
Lord, like the disciples, I have had no leisure so much as to eat. Speak your own direct instruction to me today, come ye apart, and rest a while, and let me actually receive it. Amen.
Carry this today
Even legitimately good, important work still requires deliberate, actual rest.