Time For a Vacation
Summer is here! Time to pull out those bathing suits…Ugh…, plan a vacation…Yay!...and take an occasional nap…Ahhh.
Our busy schedules seem to make a big shift in the summer. Not that we are less busy, of course, but the heat seems
to slow things down a bit and we let a few things slide, like ice cream…right into our tummy’s! But the one thing we
can’t afford to let slide is our connectedness to Jesus. We must stay focused!
When Jesus was asked the most important command, He responded without hesitation:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,” He said, “and love your neighbor as yourself.”
When the Pharisee agreed, Christ told him he was not far from the kingdom of God (see Mark 12:30-34.)
Have you decided to take a vacation from God this summer? Are you taking a vacation from church, worship, service to others,
prayer, or maybe Bible study? Are you taking a vacation from Christ connectedness?
In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine ; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
He is not saying that we are paralyzed, unable to move, or even enjoy Fiesta Texas! What He is saying is that we cannot do anything that will be worth anything.
Apart from Him, we begin to wither and dry up. So, as branches, how then can we afford to take a vacation from the Vine?
We must practice the presence of God in every event and every season of our lives----even our Summers!
We must daily ask ourselves what God requires of us before the day begins. Then, in the middle of the day,
in the heat of the sand on the beach or the argument you find yourself buried in; or in the wake of an ocean
wave or a crushing sea of loss; in the middle of Fiesta Texas, the grocery store, or the office, let us remind ourselves that
we have asked God for His direction, and let us believe that He will meet us there with new grace to think and act like saints.
Are you ready to take “vacation” to a whole other level?
I can’t wait to hear about your summer vacation…with Jesus!
Our busy schedules seem to make a big shift in the summer. Not that we are less busy, of course, but the heat seems
to slow things down a bit and we let a few things slide, like ice cream…right into our tummy’s! But the one thing we
can’t afford to let slide is our connectedness to Jesus. We must stay focused!
When Jesus was asked the most important command, He responded without hesitation:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,” He said, “and love your neighbor as yourself.”
When the Pharisee agreed, Christ told him he was not far from the kingdom of God (see Mark 12:30-34.)
Have you decided to take a vacation from God this summer? Are you taking a vacation from church, worship, service to others,
prayer, or maybe Bible study? Are you taking a vacation from Christ connectedness?
In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine ; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
He is not saying that we are paralyzed, unable to move, or even enjoy Fiesta Texas! What He is saying is that we cannot do anything that will be worth anything.
Apart from Him, we begin to wither and dry up. So, as branches, how then can we afford to take a vacation from the Vine?
We must practice the presence of God in every event and every season of our lives----even our Summers!
We must daily ask ourselves what God requires of us before the day begins. Then, in the middle of the day,
in the heat of the sand on the beach or the argument you find yourself buried in; or in the wake of an ocean
wave or a crushing sea of loss; in the middle of Fiesta Texas, the grocery store, or the office, let us remind ourselves that
we have asked God for His direction, and let us believe that He will meet us there with new grace to think and act like saints.
Are you ready to take “vacation” to a whole other level?
I can’t wait to hear about your summer vacation…with Jesus!
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