Weekly Devotional from
Pastor Eddie Jenkins
July 2, 2025
"The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them,
'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest'" (Mark 6:30-31).
It's been a long time now since we marked the celebration of Easter on the church's calendar. It's an even longer time until the seasons of Advent and Christmas return. It seems that the hot, humid days of summer are the time of year we set aside not only to get a break from school or take a vacation from our job, but also as a time when we take a little "time off" from God.
The fluidity of summertime schedules means that more families are out of town, and Sunday morning attendance significantly withers. It's a bad time of year to schedule important meetings or to make any great future-shaping decisions. Everyone, it seems, is ready for a break, a change, a chance for a little well-deserved "personal time."
If we are perfectly honest with ourselves, however, we must admit that we have already segmented our lives into "God's time" vs. the "rest of our lives." So much of our days evaporates into grocery shopping, staff meetings, budget-crunching, commuter traffic snarls, refereeing sibling squabbles, "environmental science" (a.k.a. housecleaning and yard work), writing reports, keeping coworkers informed, keeping bosses informed, filing reports, preparing meals and preparing for tomorrow's onslaught, that we struggle to "find time" for God. At best, we schedule a half-hour of Bible study here, a half-hour of prayer there, and a scant hour of "worship" once a week.
The problem with this attitude is that we can't segment life into "God times" vs. "god-less times." Christians don't find time for God. We find God's time in all our time. If we are truly "in Christ," then Christ's Spirit fills us at every moment of our day. In everything we do, we must be finding God and serving God. Christians don't take "time off" from being Christians any more than our hearts can take "time off" from beating. On a sticky July day, we are as fully immersed in God's time as we are singing "Silent Night" on Christmas Eve or proclaiming "Christ is risen" on Easter morning.
At first glance, it may appear that today's verses from Mark's gospel depict Jesus advocating a kind of "time off" from doing God's mission for his disciples. They had returned from their mission (Mark 6:7-13) bubbling over with enthusiasm, anxious to tell Jesus all they had "done and taught"(v.30). In the midst of all this hubbub, of all the comings and goings, Jesus suggests that the disciples "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while"(v.31).
But the words and actions of today's text convey two messages -- two halves that combine to create one whole truth. First, Jesus does remind the disciples that they must allow time for recharging their spiritual batteries and resting their physical bodies. Second, however, this text demonstrates that even our "time off" is God's time. The scene in verse 33 suggests that despite departing from their old environment and responsibilities, Jesus and his disciples were still fully immersed in God's time.
Are you busy scheduling your vacation plans this summer? Don't find time for God. If you are living a life of discipleship and faith, God is already in all the time you have. Summer is not the time to "wind down." It is our special time to "rev up" our engines for the challenges ahead. "Downtime" is "uptime" if it's God's time.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK WITH JESUS!
Pastor Eddie Jenkins
