A Quiet Place

Monday, September 3, 2012
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Listen while you read: "Forth In Thy Name"1 (Lyrics)

Mark 6:31 – And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. (NKJV)

Have you noticed how noisy the world around us seems to be these days? Most of us have the television or a radio on almost all the time. We see people with cellphones, ipods, walkman radios. We seem to crave noise of some kind. The world is noisy and we are busy, busier than ever; so it seems anyway.

In the passage just before today's verse, Jesus and His disciples were talking about all the things He had been teaching and what they had been doing. There had been so many people and they had been so busy that they hadn't even have time to eat. Then Jesus said, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."

When I think of Jesus going around the countryside so many years ago, I've always pictured Him slowly strolling around talking to people, or sitting on a boulder by the side of the road talking to those who want to listen — no rush, no hurry, nothing much to worry about, and no work to go to, just a leisurely walk along the quiet roads of Israel of old. And then we find that they were so busy that they did not have time to eat, and Jesus suggests that they should go to a quiet place and rest for a while.

It is time that we, too, when we are so busy, should go to a quiet place to get away from the busyness of life for a while, and listen for the gentle whisper of the Lord. A mother may hear it as she quietly feeds her baby. We may hear it as we visit an elderly person. We may hear it as we visit someone in the hospital or the nursing home. We may hear it as we work in the garden, or drive to work, or prepare a Sunday School lesson or a Bible Study, or work on a sermon, or have our daily devotional time. We may hear the gentle whisper of the Lord as we go for a walk, or as we think about things which cause us anxiety as we try to get to sleep at night. There are so many different places where we might hear God's voice, but we must be willing to listen.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, we are so busy doing the things that we need to do, and we pray that You would speak to our hearts and that Your peace will enter. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

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About the author:

Joel Jongkind <austria67@bmts.com>
Meaford, Ontario, Canada

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