Take some me time. Relax–you deserve it. Indulge yourself. Pamper yourself. Now that’s my kind of advice!
Often, when we’re feeling stressed, worn out, depressed, or even deprived of some good, old-fashion downtime, it makes perfect sense that if we just relaxed and engaged in some self-pampering activities, we would feel so much better. Plan a vacation, go to the spa, schedule a mani-pedi or indulge in a little retail therapy. Ahhh! Who wouldn’t feel refreshed and rejuvenated after a vacation, a day at the spa, or a trip to the mall?
Even as we consider some well-known advertisement slogans,
You deserve a break today
Have it your way
It’s everywhere you want to be
You’re worth it,
we are encouraged to take care of ourselves and satisfy our comforts so we can be refreshed.
In the gospels, we read about Jesus feeding the five thousand. This story begins on the heels of the apostles returning from a mission trip, as well as Jesus learning that His dear friend and cousin, John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod. Upon hearing this news, Jesus tells the twelve they should all get away for awhile to rest. Jesus may have wanted to mourn the loss of John the Baptist. And the apostles, I’m sure, were exhausted from their trip. So they set sail to a quiet beach for a little R&R.
Jesus and the apostles had quite a following by this time so when people saw them leaving in a boat heading toward Bethsaida, they followed them along the shoreline. The crowds of people grew, and Jesus had compassion on them. Docking the boat in a remote area, Jesus welcomed the crowds. He spoke to them about God’s kingdom and healed those that were sick. So much for that well-deserved rest time!
Finally, as the dinner hour had arrived, the apostles asked Jesus if He could send the crowds away. “They can go to the nearby villages to find food and a place to stay,” the apostles told Jesus. But rather, Jesus (the same guy who said they should get away to rest) tells the apostles to serve and feed the crowds instead. What? Seriously? The apostles had to be thinking, Wait! This is supposed to be our time to relax and be refreshed. We just got back from the mission field, and now you want us to host a party and feed and serve five thousand people? How can we possibly do that? We only have two fish and five loaves of bread!
It was truly miraculous that Jesus fed five thousand with nothing more than a few fish and some loaves of bread. But what’s extraordinary is that after feeding that many people, there were twelve baskets filled with leftovers! In other words, they had enough, and then some.
This story illustrates something beyond having more than enough food to cater an event for five thousand people. It also illustrates what happens when we serve. Proverbs 11:25 says that, “…those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” We find in Philippians 2:3 that we are to “…be humble and consider others more important than ourselves.” Jesus was teaching the apostles to overlook their own desire for comfort and make the five thousand more important. The apostles did. And were they refreshed? Hellooo! They had twelve baskets full of “refreshments” left over for themselves!
I wonder if Jesus had written some of those well-known advertising slogans instead, would they have been worded something like this: They deserve a break today, or They’re worth it?
We live in a generation that has allowed us more luxuries and self-indulgences than any other generation, and yet we still find ourselves on a quest to find more rest and relaxation. We often hear and convince ourselves that we’re tired because we need to rest, or we’re worn out because we do too much. Of course, we need to rest. Even God rested! But is it possible the reason we may be feeling worn out and exhausted isn’t because we’ve been too invested in taking care of others, but because we’ve been too invested in taking care of ourselves? The refreshment we seek to experience isn’t found when we strive to receive more, rather, it’s found when we strive to give more. It’s contradictory to our culture and to our human nature to consider others more important than ourselves; yet, that is exactly what Jesus is trying to teach us. He wants us to understand that when we refresh others, the refreshment we actually experience will be enough, and then some.