Set Some Time Apart
A June Idyll by Theodore Clement Steele
Theodore Steele painted this June idyllic day while summering in Vermont -- a beautiful New England state bordering on Canada. We're looking at a mom and her son (or perhaps an older sister with her brother) that are enjoying a beautiful summer day.
They have found an open spot at the edge of a wooded area where they can sit in the shade and enjoy a good book. Mom has the book open on her lap with her young man sprawled in front of her listening. Time has stood still. They have time to be together and learn.
Oh, the wonder of time and quiet and togetherness. They are all choices that we make. Life will always be clamoring for our time. There will always be more to do, some tasks that can't wait, some people we must see. But, if we don't carve out time for quiet, learning and fellowship life will become only the tyranny of the urgent.
No one knew that better than Jesus as He withdrew to spend all night with His Father. Or, He would encourage his disciples to come away with Him to rest. So too each of us needs time to think, and if we don't have it we should learn to pray this prayer of David. "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
For all of us that like to be efficient, free time is not wasted time. It is time for our souls (mind, will, and emotions) and time for our spirit (the part of us that communes with God) to be renewed. By gaining a heart of wisdom we are enabled by God to live for His purposes and His glory.