“Yet the news about Him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16)
Jesus took vacations! A vacation can simply be defined as “a period of suspension from work, study, or other activity, usually for rest, recreation or travel.” (Dictionary.com, 2022) No, He didn’t stay at luxurious five-star resorts, nor did He take sightseeing tours around the Mediterranean. It’s hard to imagine that Jesus would be very impressed with any earthly site. He didn’t seek entertainment, or even travel the world. In fact, you could limit the scope of Jesus’ activity to a small section of land, no bigger than Lake Ontario. When Jesus took a vacation, He “withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Different than a vacation, a vocation can be defined as “a divine call to God’s service or to the Christian life.” (Dictionary.com, 2022) Jesus’ withdrawals to lonely places were never a suspension of His vocation. They were actually meant to improve His ability to fulfill His vocation. When Jesus healed people, power left Him. (Luke 8:46) It took energy out of Him to do what He did. How would He replace those spiritual calories? Through prayer. He withdrew, He prayed, and He recharged!
Douglas moves from the São Paulo ICC in Brazil, to study English for two months!
This powerful truth is clearly evidenced by what followed Jesus’ withdrawal. Luke records, “One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.” (Luke 5:17) Implied in this scripture, is that the “power of the Lord” was not always with Jesus to heal the sick. He had to get His power through pulling away from people, and spending more time with God. Then He was able to more effectively deal with people. Simply put, Jesus never took a vacation from His vocation!
As University semesters wrap up and we enter the month of May, where many people throughout Toronto are beginning to plan their Summer vacations, we disciples must consider the following question in light of Jesus’ example: Summer vacation or Summer vocation? With this in mind, I would like to present you with several vacation-alternatives which I am affectionately calling “vocation packages”.
Long Walks On The Beach
“As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed Him.” (Mark 1:16-18) Jesus enjoyed long walks on the beach too. However, different from the typical vacation, this vocation package includes life-changing talks with people who are not yet living out God’s purpose for their lives. Jesus was able to meet these simple fishermen, and call them to become fishers of men. It was a new identity that each of them raced to embrace, as they gave up everything and followed Jesus!
There is truly nothing more exciting than discovering why God put us on earth. As Mark Twain once wrote, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” It is a pity for a person to be born and never find out why. Every other purpose or identity is temporary, and therefore, pointless. It is only in discovering and adopting a purpose that extends beyond the expiration date of our own existence that we can find real meaning in life.
The Hamula’s will be arriving this week from Los Angeles!
An All-Night Dinner Cruise
“[Jesus] got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon… When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.” (Luke 5:3-6) What could be more appealing than a nice night under the stars on the open water? Like many vacation promises, this one also has a “catch”. That is, you have to “catch” your own dinner! Thankfully, it is all-you-can-catch. So it is also all-you-can-eat!
But how do we catch enough? Peter worked all night and didn’t catch anything. If Jesus hadn’t shown up, he wouldn’t have been able to eat any fish at all. It is true, without Jesus we can do nothing. (John 15:5-6) But it is also true, that Jesus didn’t show up until after Peter worked hard all night. Can we really expect Jesus to do all of the work? We are God’s co-workers. (I Corinthians 3:9, II Corinthians 6:1) We can do nothing without God, and God will do nothing without us. An astonishing catch requires an astonishing effort.
All Around The World Tour
“[Jesus] said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” (Mark 16:15-16) No vacation is complete without seeing at least a few sites. Likewise, our vocation cannot be complete without accepting Jesus’ calling to “Go into all the world…” Though Jesus’ ministry efforts were limited to a relatively small geography, His focus and attention was geared towards raising up and training His disciples to go into all nations. Jesus didn’t live in a bubble, nor was He myopic in His ambitions. He was preparing for the long-game. He understood that His long-term impact would come down to a short-term investment. Essentially, Jesus had to make disciples that would be able to make other disciples. It was His efforts to train and prepare His disciples in the immediate future that would make all the difference in the world – literally!
If we are going to have the type of impact Jesus had, we must do as Jesus did. Though it’s not wrong to take a vacation, we must never take a break from our vocation. I pray that all of us find some time this Summer to recharge. Then we too may have the “power of the Lord” present with us in Canada to do all that God has purposed us to do! So in planning your Summer vacation, please keep in mind your Summer vocation! And to God be all the glory!
Evan Bartholomew