I Last Sunday I shared with you the story from the Gospel of Mark (Mark 6:1-13) in which Jesus sends his disciples out (together!) to preach the gospel and bring healing to people in need.

As I was wrapping up the last sermon on Sunday, I got to thinking about what Jesus was doing while the disciples were being sent out.  The Gospel of Mark does not record in anything about what he was doing while they were gone.  It simply says he sends them out, and then they report back.

At other places in the gospels, we hear that when Jesus had some time away from the disciples he prayed or meditated.  In the gospel of John, there is even a time when it says Jesus hid from the disciples (John 12:36).  Talk about needing a vacation!

So I don’t know what Jesus was doing while he sent the disciples out on their first mission trip.  If Jesus was like me, he might have used the time to pray or rest or do something mindless like a crossword puzzle or sudoku or even a video game . . . if they would have had them.

The truth is that we all need times to break away from the pack, time for rest, relaxation, and re-creation.  I hope some of you are all taking the time you need to kick back and take a deep breath.

I mean . . . if the Son of God sometimes needed a break, a respite, some time away, then I suppose all of us may also need to shift gears and put ourselves in idling mode for a while.

I plan to take some vacation time this fall.  What are your plans?  How are you going to slow down, rest, pray and allow time for blessing and peace?
I’d love to hear from you.

In Christ,
 
Pastor John D. Morris