Come Away With Me

By Will Davis, Jr.

Sometimes my heart just aches. Sometimes the crowd noise becomes totally overwhelming. Sometimes there is so much to do–people to pray for, calls to make, projects due, work lists, home lists, kids to parent and a spouse to serve–that there is no time to eat. I don’t mean eat physically, I mean eat spiritually. And I don’t really mean there isn’t time, I mean that the demands of my world exceed my ability to maintain consistent, in-depth spiritual feeding times. My irregular diet of spiritual fast food leaves my soul in great want. As a result, I get grouchy, needy and carnal, and I become highly ineffective for anything of kingdom value.

And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) Mark 6:31

That’s why verses like this are so important. We’re all going to have times of excessive giving, times when output well exceeds input. When those times occur, long before we slip into true spiritual atrophy, we need to heed Jesus’ call and run away to him and with him. Jesus was himself the grand champion of knowing when to pull away and get with his Father. He modeled this lifesaving discipline for his disciples and often called them to join him in his own retreats. He calls us as well.

Now I bet at this point you agree with all that I have said. I bet you could even say it yourself. We know as Christ-followers that we need to feed on him. He is our Bread of Life. The question remains: what are you going to do about that hungry soul of yours? Are you going to continue to starve it, to let it remain undernourished and weak? Or, are you finally going to put your foot down, say NO to the list that will never go away, and RSVP to Jesus’ invitation? He is waiting for you; even now he is waiting for you. Listen to his tender call: Come away with me by yourself. Let’s go to a quiet place where I can feed and teach you. Come away with Me right now and get some rest.

Friends, it’s not a sin to be tired spiritually; it is sinful, however, to neglect your soul when such transforming grace is so readily available. Come away with Me.