Manna Monday | finding true rest

It is a new week. I hope you are doing well on this Monday or whenever you're listening to this. If you can't tell, I am not Dr. Barrett. He's okay. Everything's good.

My name is Grant Crenshaw. I am a content producer here. I'm usually on the other side of the podcast and once a month with Manna Monday we're gonna have a different staff member here at the Real Health Co. share. So May is my month. I am very excited and blessed to be able to host it this week.

So let's just dive right in. Right now where you are, where you're sitting, where you're standing, I want you to think about the answer to this question. What do you think when you picture yourself resting? Picture yourself resting. So take a second, close your eyes unless you're driving and think.

Think about what does rest look like for you. For me, it's watching a football game with my friends or it's reading a book, I'm going through Lonesome Dove right now. Or sometimes just watching a movie or going to the gym or on a hike or run. And it may look similar or different for you but we all have a way we rest, right? Rest in our culture is one of the most overlooked and misunderstood things basically I would say in the whole world. If someone asks you how you are, for example, how do you respond? Someone asks, "Grant, how are you?"

I say, "oh I'm great, I'm great, I'm just busy." Or "I'm doing well, I'm just tired," right? And I think we all relate to that. People usually respond with "me too, I'm busy too, I'm tired too." And that's just such a staple of our culture.

Rest isn't rest in our culture. What is rest? Well, when I sit down and I'm resting, what's it look like? I'm scrolling. I am scrolling on Instagram, I'm doom scrolling, I'm watching reel after reel after post after post, or I am planning, I'm planning out my week, I'm planning, oh my gosh, even if it's just mentally, I've gotta do this, I gotta do that.

Or sometimes it's even working. Sometimes when we rest, we sit down and do more work. I know if you're in school right now like me, it can look like homework. And that's not real rest. So when we ask what is real rest, let's start with what isn't rest, right?

I know I just listed some things, but rest is not filling your time. It is not just your hobbies even though those aren't bad. It's not always alone. It's not always with other people. It's not always inside.

It's not always outside. But the most important thing is it's not mindless. Rest is not mindless. And we'll kinda touch on that a little bit. But what is actual rest?

Well, when we need to figure out what rest actually is, who should we look at? Well, we should look at Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate example. How did Jesus rest? Jesus was a very, very busy man as you might expect.

He was teaching all the time. He was in the temple. He was talking to people, eating with people, but he did not neglect rest. Luke 21:37 says, "each day Jesus was teaching at the temple and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill he called the Mount- or hill called the Mount Of Olives." Sorry.

Luke 22:39 says, "Jesus went out as usual to Mount Of Olives and his disciples followed him." In Mark 6:31 says, "then because so many people were coming [to him] and going that they did not even [(they being him and the disciples)], they did not even have a chance to eat. So he said to them [his disciples], 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'" Jesus did not neglect rest at all. He habitually went to rest.

But, you know, these verses just say, he went to a place. He secluded himself. What he do in that place? Well, he prayed. He pursued his Father in prayer.

So thinking about all of that, how do we redefine rest? How is it more than just scrolling on your phone or, you know, filling your time? It is okay to have hobbies. It is good to go on hikes. It's good to read a book.

It's good to go on a drive. All of that stuff is a good thing, but think about what you are consuming. We spend so much of our lives pouring out and investing. We work, we exercise, we talk to others, we clean, we play. How can we take that investing and how can we think about how we fill ourselves up?

John 4:14, Jesus says, "but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." So if we're pouring out, how do- I mean, if we're a cup, for example, and we're pouring out, we're gonna go empty. Right? We are going to run dry.

But Jesus is the eternal water of life. He is overflowing and he will always fill our cups. So think about how you can incorporate communion with God, communion with the father into your week this week. Whether it's, you know, for example, silent prayer, extended silent prayer. It just for a long amount of time maybe even or maybe it's reading your bible while it's out in his creation, a set aside time for that for communion with the Father.

Those are just some options. I know life looks different for you. It could be anything, but think about that this week. Think about how rest can be redefined in your life. Meditate on that.

Keep your gaze fixed on the Lord this week. From the Real Health Co., we hope you have a blessed week. Take care.