Title: The Blessing of a Peaceful Life
Contents
♡♥♡ The blessing of a leisurely life / Mark 6:30-33
*** Introduction
Everyone, are you very busy with your life? Almost everyone I meet these days says, 'Time goes by so fast.' In the past and now, the time is the same, but why is the day so short? A week goes by too quickly. Moses, the man of God, lived for 120 years, but as he looked back on his life, he confessed, “I am flying.”
As a result, people become impatient and rush to do anything quickly. Some parents complain that their children don't grow up fast, and you have to be quick to succeed and get ahead, and you have to be quick to raise money. So I study and work as if 24 hours a day are not enough. In particular, the tendency of our nation is noticeably impatient. Among the evaluations of foreigners who have visited Korea, the phrase “quickly, quickly” is not missing. Not only that, you can tell just by looking at the first word that foreigners who come in contact with Koreans learn because of their age is “quickly, quickly”.
The fast food business that can be eaten immediately upon ordering according to this fast tempo of modern people and can be eaten while driving is prospering day by day. The grocery section of the large store is lined with numerous ready-to-eat products. People are getting accustomed to this fast and uniform instant food.
Faith is no exception. In urban churches these days, it is an unwritten rule that worship times do not exceed an hour. It is rare to find them staying up all night and praying all night like before. Not only that, but the time has come to serve as an agent.
Either he was too busy or he didn't like the sweaty service, so he sent someone else. Shall we send someone else to the kingdom of God?
Proverbs 29:20 (Modern Bible) says, “Have you seen a man who has a quick temper and speaks without thinking? He said, "I would rather hope for a fool than from such a person." Ecclesiastes 5:2 (Joint Translation) says, "Do not be too hasty to offer something to God, and do not open your mouth hastily. God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, people should speak few words.” You said. In 2 Timothy 3:4, among the characteristics of people living in the last days, “Immediateness that does not choose back and forth” is selected.
If you look at the text, you can see the Lord caring for the disciples who are too busy to eat. The Lord sent His disciples to the field of life to preach the gospel and teach the gospel in pairs, and to look back at people's lives. The disciples worked hard, taught, and preached. The disciples returned and reported to the Lord what they had done. Then the Lord said, “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.” This was the Lord's consideration for the disciples who had to run a long way.
Our race of faith is not a short-distance sprint. It is a long road we must run until the end of our lives. Nevertheless, people live in such a hurry that they live for a moment and die as if they are dying. Even now, in Korea, the death rate of people who end their lives at a working age in their 40s and 50s ranks high in the world. It's because you abused yourself too much when you were young.
Although the Lord left us with a short three-year public life on this earth, He has accomplished a great work that no one can follow. Yet, he did not lose his leisure in life. Leisure in life is completely different from 'leisure' or 'lazy'. Then, let's take a look at the leisurely life that the Lord set the example.
First, a leisurely life is a life of self-reflection.
This is Mark 1:35. “In the early morning, Jesus got up and went out to a secluded place, where he prayed.” The Lord had a deep fellowship with God before the day began. This is a time to establish your relationship with God, and a time to free yourself up so that God can fulfill His plan for you.
However, modern people cannot afford this. I get up busy and go to work and go to school without even having time to eat breakfast. I don't even have the time to look back on myself or have fellowship with God. So you can't even ask God for a day. Of course, if you try to do everything on your own without God, your life gets busier, more irritable, you get headaches, things get messed up, and you don't find the meaning of life.
The Lord had more time to deepen his fellowship with God the bigger and bigger the work. It was the same when Jesus chose his disciples, and it was the same when things piled up like a mountain because of the many people who wanted to experience the miracles of Jesus. Luke 5:16. “Jesus withdrew, and prayed in a lonely place.” It was because the more work and the bigger the task, the more power was needed.
Do you have a lot of work? Are you busy? Spend more time in fellowship with the Lord. No matter how busy we are, we need to eat to live, and the more we work and struggle, the more nutrients we need, so our spirits demand deeper fellowship with God. What do you do when you fall down after working without taking care of your health? If our spirit lives without God, our fellowship with God is cut off. Loss of fellowship with God means eternal ruin. Therefore, quietly looking back at yourself and establishing a relationship with God is a leisurely life.
Next, a leisurely life is a life of looking around.
The Lord was so big and numerous that it was hard to do even his own work. Nevertheless, he cared for and cared for the foolish disciples. With a rugged personality, impatience, betrayal, arrogance, and inability to endure, the disciples were like untrained foals. However, rather than criticizing the disciples, the Lord guided and cared for them to grow step by step. Not only that, he fed, healed, and taught a constant stream of people to be healed or to fulfill their desires.
Even in the midst of his busy schedule, Lazarus of Bethany did not forget to find his siblings, and he met Zacchaeus on the mulberry tree, whom everyone hated and alienated. When the Lord died on the cross and was placed in a tomb, the disciples who had been teaching for three years were scattered. But the resurrected Lord went first to Galilee. There were seven disciples, including Peter and Andrew, who had gone back to the past due to disappointment and frustration. The Lord made a fire at the lakeside, prepared hot food, and waited for the disciples to return from their stay all night long. In John 21:9, he explains the scene, “When I went up on the land, there was a charcoal fire, and fish were placed on it, and there was bread.
Looking around is not just a leisurely pastime. Or I'm not talking about the leisurely time spent in neighbourhoods and chatting. It is to find, serve and serve people who need attention, including family and relatives, people in need, and things that can be of strength to me, and to give me strength even though it is small.
In Proverbs 21:13, it says, “If they shut up their ears and do not hear the cry of the poor, when they cry, no one will hear them.” In 19:17, it says, “To have mercy on the poor is to lend to the Lord, and his good deeds.” will repay you.”
A leisurely life like this is not a short-sighted life that can only see yourself and your family, but a life of generosity, understanding, and service that allows you to take an interest in other lives as well.
Some people say, ‘I’ll set up a little more foundation and then go see.’ and ‘I can’t afford to look around either me or my family right now… ’, he protests. But the Lord said, “You do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears” (James 4:14). Our lives don't wait for me to build and succeed. Never forget that this is the best time of my life. So now give me life, allow me to be active, and look around me, satisfied and grateful that I have a place to sleep, clothes to wear, and food to eat.
God will give more and greater things to those who are grateful for the life given to me now and cultivate the best life. In Luke 16:12, the Lord said, “If you are not loyal to others, who will give you yours?” And through the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:21, “His master said, Well done. . Good and faithful servant, since you have been faithful over little things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” This is a blessing that comes down to a life where you can look back on yourself before God and look around you.
These days, the ‘living slowly movement’ is taking place all over the world. So, it is said that slow food restaurants are popping up and people are getting a good response. In France, more than 10,000 people have died in the heat of the past few days. However, most of them are elderly people living alone. A country boasting of a good welfare system has been humiliated worldwide. Welfare may be good, but there is no concern for neighbors. So, it is said that an awakening movement is taking place in France right now.
Now, like the Lord, let me and you make a beautiful and leisurely life, both in our relationship with God and with our neighbors and surroundings. So, I pray that it will bring joy and glory to God and a blessed life in which we share love and happiness with those around us because of our small interest and consideration.