Do You Need Rest?

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 9:10-17 ESV

10 On their return
the apostles told him all that they had done.
And he took them and withdrew apart
to a town called Bethsaida.
11 When the crowds learned it, they followed him,
and he welcomed them
and spoke to them of the kingdom of God
and cured those who had need of healing.
12 Now the day began to wear away,
and the twelve came and said to him,
“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages
and countryside to find lodging and get provisions,
for we are here in a desolate place.”
13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.”
They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish–
unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”
14 For there were about five thousand men.
And he said to his disciples,
“Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”
15 And they did so, and had them all sit down.
16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish,
he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them.
Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples
to set before the crowd.
17 And they all ate and were satisfied.
And what was left over was picked up,
twelve baskets of broken pieces.
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Do you need rest?
Do you feel the need to take time away?
Perhaps you feel as though you can’t
even take the time to rest
because there is too much to do,
too many responsibilities,
too many pressing concerns.

Where do you take your rest?
What do you do to rest?

TAKING THE TRUTH TO HEART

Take a moment to think about what
you like to do to rest.

We think of Jesus as the Son of God,
our Prophet, Priest, and King,
our Lord, and our Savior.
But we may forget that He is also
our Living Water, the Bread of Life, and our Rest.

We can think of our quiet time in the morning
as a “task” we need to accomplish.
Going before the Lord in prayer can seem
like hard work and discipline.
The effort that seems to be required to read our Bible,
the faith we need to muster to go to the Lord in prayer,
and the battle that rages as we seek to
resist the things the flesh desires,
all seem to be too much work in order to find rest.

But Jesus truly is our All in all.

He is the way, the truth, and the life,
and He is our food, our sustenance,
our strength, our power, our hope.
And He is our rest.

He is all we need.

Matthew Henry writes:
“…but food, for all those that by faith apply themselves to him;
he not only heals them that need healing, cures the diseases of the soul,
but feeds them too that need feeding, supports the spiritual life,
relieves the necessities of it, and satisfies the desires of it.”

Jesus truly is our All in all.

Psalm 73:25-26
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

AND BRINGING IT TO LIFE

Chose one truth from today and apply it to your heart.
Take it with you throughout the day.

PRAYER

Lord, may I turn to you to be my everything.
May I not overlook you.
Please be my portion, my everything, my All.

O Lord, I need you.
Even to show me the way.

In His hands for His glory,
Laurie
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