And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. – Mark 6:31
- Make every meal a Bible School. The meal time is a tremendous time to touch base and share what you saw that morning in God’s Word.
- You don’t do anything more when sick — except groan.
- Enjoy the brethren in the church, the good that you do find in them, and drop your guard a little and cut them some slack.
(The Interview was recorded in September 2012.)
Question: Israel had things in his heart to relate to future generations – maybe a prophetic word. Is there anything that you are burdened to relate to pilgrims that are still here or to those pilgrims who are yet to be born either physically or spiritually?
Bob: Oh, how do you sum it up, you know? You just can’t. But I’ll tell you one thing for sure: The Lord is worthy and wonderful. Yeah, the Lord is worthy and wonderful. In the words of C.T. Studd, “If Jesus Christ is God and He died for me, there’s no sacrifice too great, that I could make for Him.” It’s just hard to sum it up. It’s hard. I wouldn’t know really how to answer it. But I could say one thing. In addition to what I said here tonight and the emphasis about we’re not living for this world. We’re living for heaven. Death to self. All to Christ. The message of sacrifice.
And all of that is very true, very imminent, very urgent, very real, but there is a footnote; there is a side note, and that is make sure you enjoy the Lord. Make sure to enjoy Him. I think I feel like somehow, I’ve made the Christian life too hard. And you men, you enjoy the wife. You enjoy the wife of your youth. Proverbs 5. Enjoy her. And you women, enjoy your men. And you enjoy your children. You children, enjoy your parents. Proverbs is just full of: let her who bore you have joy. I can’t quote it exactly. Many verses like that.
You children wonder, what really should I be doing? What great thing can I do? I’ll tell you what great thing you can do. You can bring joy to your parents. And that is no small thing. You enjoy your meals. Enjoy them. We never did much cooking out. We don’t have time to cook out. We don’t have time to heat that thing up. Get it on. Get it going. But there’s something to be said for it. Slow down. Heat that grill up and enjoy your meal together. Make every meal to be a holy time. Make every meal to be a Bible school. Share with one another your experiences, parents and children, and what you’re going through. The meal time, the table time, it’s a tremendous opportunity to touch base and share what you saw that morning or what happened this afternoon.
I haven’t given enough credit to what is it? Mark 6? Where the Lord says come aside for a while and rest. I have not given that enough credit. I mean, the Lord said that. He said that. And we took some family vacations. I’m glad for every one of them we had. But if I had it to do again, I’d buy a better tent – one where you could stand up, move around. Not just some little bit of a thing where you’ve got to crawl in and dread it at night and kick your shoes off in the cold. And they get wet in the morning.
When it’s time to work, work. When it’s time to play, play. Enjoy your vacations. Somebody I think quoted it tonight. 1 Peter 3: “And he who would see good days and love life…” Peter said that. Good days? I thought all these days were supposed to be evil. You know, this present evil world. And love life? I thought you were supposed to hate your life. But there’s a sense in which the opposite is true. And so enjoy your vacations. Take them. Take them. Enjoy your work.
Here I am. See? I can barely sit at my desk. I can barely read my Bible. Don’t think that if I get sick ever I’m going to have more time to read my Bible and pray. No way. You don’t do anything more when you’re sick except groan. So, just enjoy your health.
I remember Conrad Murrell – he came to Kirksville. I was still single at the time. (incomplete thought) No, I take it back. I was still working. It was before I’d quit my job. And I think I came down to the meeting. And I said to Conrad, “Is it alright for me to put a T-bone steak in that oven?” And he says, “It sure is.” He says, “You put a steak in there and you enjoy it and thank God for it, and when He takes it away from you, you thank Him for that too.”
And so, enjoy your work. Don’t look at it as drudgery. What a privilege you’ve got to go to work and do something for society and for Christ. So there’s something to be said for that side too.
Come aside and rest awhile. Make memories. Look your children in the eye. And tell them you love them. Let them enjoy you. Come on, let them in. Tell them you do. Enjoy one another. You look around the room. You look around the church, and you can see, well, he’s not perfect. He’s got this fault and that fault. But the same for you. Enjoy the brethren and the good that you do find in them. Drop your guard a little. Cut them some slack.
Enjoy your pastor; your pastors. Give them a break. You know, it says in Hebrews 13 that they’re watching for your souls. Let them do it with joy and not with grief. Give them a little joy. There’s a burden there, again, that they’re carrying that’s unique. Give them some joy. The biggest joy you can give them, of course, is to walk with Christ and quit sinning. I have no greater joy than to see my children walking in the truth. I believe that’s all.
