[Steve Myers] The school year has just ended, and I was talking to a young person the other day, and I asked them what was their favorite part of school? And do you know what they said? Recess. I think on some level all of us, when we were in grade school, loved recess. And I think it’s an important thing to think about – when you’re in school, you can’t be studying all the time. You can’t be listening to the teacher every second in instruction. There has to be a break. There has to be, in a sense, a balance. There has to be a balance between that guided, structured learning and then some free time, some leisure time. In fact, it’s summertime. It’s time for some of that. And in fact, it’s a biblical principle in that concept of balance.

Christ was concerned about that. He didn’t want His disciples to be – well, I don’t know if it’s fair to say “religious fanatics”. Should we be religious weirdos, that all we think about is this aspect, that we always read the Bible constantly, every second of the day? You know, I think that would make us strange. And Christ was even worried about that in a sense that He understood how critical balance is, and especially when we consider our physical life. We’ve got to have a chance, an opportunity, for leisure. And even talked about this over in Mark 6:31. Mark 6:31, He’s got the disciples together and He says to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”

So Christ was concerned – we have to have time for rest. We have to have time for leisure. There’s got to be time for recess. There’s got to be time for other things that we can just relax and not have to have every second focused on guided learning or instructed in that way. But there’s got to be time for breaks. And summertime’s a great time for that. Time to get away a little bit. Time to relax. Time to refocus, time to restructure. Yeah, time to go to a deserted place and rest a while. Maybe pray a little bit longer, maybe take some leisure time to read. It’s an important concept and Christ wants us to be balanced. That is a critical concept, and a biblical concept. So I hope you’ll take time, especially this summer. In fact, at the end of that verse it says, “for there were many coming and going, and they didn’t even have time to eat.” So stop that coming and going for a little bit, refocus, draw close to God, and be balanced. Take some time for leisure.

That’s BT Daily. We’ll see you next time.