Come With Me

Mark 6:30  The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.
Mark 6:31  Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

In verses 7 to 11 of Mark 6 the Lord sent His disciples to minister to the people.  They went out and preached, healed the sick and even drove out demons.  You can imagine how tiring, exhausted but probably also pepped up having experienced the working of God through them!  Ministry does that.  Physically it may tire us, wear us out, but because of the working of God and the fruit that we see in the lives of the people we minister to, we long to keep serving, more and more.  In one sense that is commendable.  The harvest is plentiful, and we do need more workers and workings in the harvest field.  But many of us who minister forget one aspect of the Christian life that is essential to ministry – rest.  Spiritual rest.

When our Lord saw that the apostles were tired, and didn’t even have a chance to eat, and with the number of people coming and going around them, Jesus said:  "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."  Our Lord knew that they needed a revival, a refreshing.  And this wasn’t just physical.  It was more spiritual.

Jesus said – “Come with Me…”.  It is there that a Christian finds rest for his weary soul.  Jesus did not send them out to a nice quiet place.  He wanted them to be with Him.  The key to revival is not about the quiet place, or being by ourselves.  It is our being with the Lord.  This is why our prayer time is an essential part of our ministry, of our walk with God.  It is in our prayer time that we seek the presence of the Lord, where He ministers to us personally, and where His Spirit revives us.

Even the Lord practiced this Himself.  Look at a later verse in the same chapter:  Mark 6:46  After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

Immediately after feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish, the Lord sends out His apostles on a boat, and He goes by Himself to a mountainside to PRAY.

Whether you’re a pastor, evangelist, ministry worker, you always need that essential time of being with the Lord in prayer.  Or you may be an employee, or taking care of business or a career – you need the same break, a spiritual break, of being with your Lord, by yourself, in a quiet place.  Allow the Lord to bring that refreshing and revival that we all need, day by day.

The Offerings of Cain and Abel

Gen 4:3  In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.
Gen 4:4  But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
Gen 4:5  but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Gen 4:6  Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
Gen 4:7  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

It is nice to note that one of the natural things that these two young men thought of doing was to bring an offering to God.  I would like to believe that this came from the influence of their parents.  Yes, Adam and Eve had sinned against the Lord, and were banished from the garden.  But remember they were covered by the Lord, and He graciously continued to be with them.  This would have lead them to worship Him.  Cain and Abel most probably followed their footsteps.

Cain brought fruits of the soil.  He was most probably a farmer, given a skill by the Lord to till the land and bear much fruit. Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.  He was obviously a shepherd.  The worship of the two stemmed from the “gift” or skill that the Lord had blessed them with.

How natural it should also be for us to worship the Lord through the giving of the fruit of the skill or work that He has graciously given to us.  This is why we give, or “tithe” – it is worship.  It is recognizing that “every good and perfect gift comes from Him”, and we return to Him as a reminder of this truth.

It is also hard not to notice the difference of the offerings – Cain brought the fruit of the ground, but Abel brought the fat portion of the firstborn.  Abel brought the best part of the best of the flock.  He gave the best.

Are we giving the Lord the best of the best?  Maybe this is why the New Testament is silent concerning the tithe, or ten percent.  Not so that we can give what we want, but that we bow our hearts to the Lord and give what is best, from the best.

Are we living a life of “offering” to the Lord, regularly and consistently giving Him of our life, our time, our strength and our finances?  Are we giving Him what He deserves – the best of the best?  This is what makes us cheerful givers.