Mark 6:31 And he said to them, Come you yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going… The disciples had been teaching the people, and meeting their objections; they had been curing the sick, and had seen effects startling even to themselves. Exultant over the work they had done, they were in some danger of forgetting its spiritual issues, and needed a reminder that it was more important to have one's name in the book of life than to have power to cast out. devils. Agitated, restless, and weary, they returned to their Lord, and he, understanding their deepest wants, bade them follow him into a quiet retreat, that they might rest a while. Each sabbath day should bring us also to Jesus, that he may lead us into rest. I. RECREATIVE REST IS RECOGNIZED BY GOD AS A NECESSITY FOR MAN. We are so constituted that a constant strain on the same powers will either degrade or destroy them. The absence of physical rest would produce madness or death. But if we had only physical recreation, if there were no provision for the cultivation of the mind and of the affections, if we knew nothing of the quietude of home and the rest of the Lord's day, we should soon become little better than the beasts which perish. This revelation shows that our "Father knoweth that we have need of these things." The Holy Book is not out of the sphere of our human necessities. It is wet with the tears of the sorrowful, and thumbed by the horny hands of the toiler, and through it the Son of man still cries, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The second chapter in the Book of Genesis speaks of rest as well as of work. One of the fundamental laws given on Sinai ordained that on six days we should work, but that on the seventh we should do no manner of work. Prophecy points on to a distant future, and declares "there remaineth a rest for the people of God." There is, indeed, no true want which God has not met. If the feeblest of his creatures requires food of a certain kind, it is placed beside it from the first. The butterfly, for example, which we sometimes use as a type of carelessness, deposits her eggs by unerring instinct where the young caterpillars may find their proper food. And the God who giveth to each his food sees that we want rest, and provides for it. When our day's work is done, and we are tired, weariness provides and fits for repose, and "the sleep of the labouring man is sweet." When we are in danger of becoming hard and worldly amid the cares of business, God places around us at home restful endearments and softening influences. And often on the sabbath day he says with effectual power, "Oh, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him." II. RECREATIVE REST SHOULD HAVE A JUST RELATION TO EARNEST WORK, Everything of value has its own standard. Art, for example, is of value in proportion to taste. Rest finds its value in proportion to work. The mere pleasure-seeker loses the very thing he seeks because he seeks it; for pleasure is the complement of effort, toil, and sacrifice. Rest is the shadow thrown by the substance work, and you reach the shadow when you have passed by the substance that throws it. Nothing is more pitiable than the sight of a blase, self-indulgent epicure, who has never done any genuine work, and who saunters through life voting everything to be a weariness. How vivid is the contrast between his enjoyment and that of the schoolboy who comes home after passing his examination; or the man of business who rejoices to get free and renew the joys of his boyhood! The same principle applies to things spiritual. Those who have known no struggle with doubt or temptation, who have made no sacrifice for the Master, know little or nothing of the rapture which comes to others when, as they pray, there comes a burst of sunshine through the darkness. There would be more enjoyment of God's rest if only there were a more thorough doing of God's work. The converse of all this is true. legitimate rest prepares for work. If an indulgence or recreation makes duty distasteful, so that we go back to it with surly discontent, then either the pleasure has been of the wrong kind, or it has been indulged in in a wrong spirit. The disciples who went into the desert to rest "a while" were soon at work again, and their retirement with Christ had increased their knowledge and power. Such should be the effect of each sabbath day. Its morrow should find us endued with more courage, patience, and hope, in our daily toil. The rest at Elim was as important for Israel as the march from the Red Sea. III. RECREATIVE REST IS INTENDED TO EXERCISE A WHOLESOME INFLUENCE ON CHARACTER. Many questions are asked concerning various forms of recreation, whether for Christians they are legitimate or not. Incidentally some tests have already been suggested. What is their effect upon the work of life? Do they fit us for doing it better, or do they lead us to turn from it with loathing? And what is their effect on Christian work? Is that more, or is it less hearty, devout, and spiritual, because of our pleasure-taking? But, besides these, there is a more subtle test to be found in the effect of recreation on character. Rightly chosen and enjoyed, it may do much to supply our personal deficiencies. We are seeking to become men in Christ Jesus - to have all the possibilities of manhood, so far as they are innocent, developed and strengthened, and not to have a few characteristics abnormally strong. If we are becoming stern in our fight with difficulties, the relaxations of home-life should make us considerate and gentle. It is well that there is a time to laugh, as well as a time to weep; and that God sends us that which will lift us out of the narrow groove in which the uniformity of life would keep us. If recreation is to have the effect on character which is highest and best, it must be enjoyed in conscious fellowship with Christ. The final test about any doubtful recreation would be - Would Christ share this? Is it he who has said, "Come ye apart with me, and rest a while" ? We rejoice in the belief that he does share in our recreations. He is with us under the whispering trees, and beside the sea as it rolls in upon the shore. He walks with us, as of old, across the corn-fields, and beside the hedgerows, with their marvellous wealth of life and beauty; and as we commune together he bids us think of the minuteness and tenderness of our Father's care. To many weary disciples he still is saying, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while." - A.R. Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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