Mark 3:7
“Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed.”
Often when I think of Jesus I think of the disciples. I picture a little rag-tag band of people making their way through the dry countryside of first-century Israel. When you read the Gospels, Jesus and his followers moved around a lot, and that’s really obvious in the book of Mark. It’s the shortest of the Gospels and my favorite. It focuses on Jesus’s teachings and actions, highlighting the big moments of his ministry.
But I don’t want to talk about one of the big moment’s, I want to talk about one single line from the book. Mark 3:7 says, “Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea.” The first time I seriously read the book of Mark I did so with a group of friends and we studied it in depth when I was in high school. This line caught us all by surprise. Jesus has a huge crowd following him, he’s performing miracles and teaching the people around him God’s truths, bringing the kingdom of God to earth. And then he takes his friends and heads to the beach? It seemed out of place to me. But the older I get and the more I think about this passage, the more I realize it’s importance.
Jesus did great things, but he also took time to rest, time to spend with his friends and recharge. When I think about being like Jesus, often the great things he did seem far off and unattainable. But when I look at the book of Mark and see how Jesus moved throughout the country doing wonders, I also see someone who retreated away from it all, someone who knew how to take care of himself, and someone who realized that only resting would allow him to keep doing what he’s doing.
Resting is important. It’s necessary if we want to learn to live like Jesus. And resting looks different for everyone, maybe it’s going for a walk with your dog, reading a book at the beach, or committing to putting your phone down for two or three hours. Rest is doing whatever brings your soul joy and peace. Whatever that looks like for you, this week I challenge you to incorporate that into your week. And try it for a couple of weeks. How much more are you able to live into who God calls you to be when you rest?