The evening came and I was already at the dance, and I was looking for my friend. The hour got later and later and he had not yet arrived. Suddenly I remembered him complaining about that numbness in his fingers and toes. I left the dance and started walking across the campus back to our dormitory. As I turned a corner that brought the dorm into view I was met by the flashing red lights of an ambulance. As I rushed inside and upstairs to his room, I saw the emergency workers huddled over his limp and lifeless body that was lying on the floor near his bed. He had suffered from a stroke of some sort at the age of twenty and died. He knew that something was wrong, but he told himself that he did not have time to deal with the problem. And before he found the time to do so, it was too late.

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There is a wonderful scene in the movie The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston and Yul Brenner. Now understand that I do not think for one moment that either of those two Hollywood actors bears any resemblance whatsoever to what the actual ancient Egyptians looked like, but let me share the scene from the film nonetheless. Moses has decided to give the Hebrew slaves one day off for rest from their hard physical labor. When his brother Rameses asks him why he has done so, Moses answers by saying, “because strong slaves make many bricks, weak slaves make few and dead slaves make no bricks at all.”

Let that scene be a continuing lesson for all of us. Whatever it is that we want to do in our lives, we do it better if we take care of ourselves physically. This is essentially a matter of living a healthy lifestyle. It just makes sense to eat right, and avoid the abuse of any substance that can damage our health. It makes sense to see the doctor and to follow the advice that is given. It makes sense to take time to be healthy.

The next thing I urge all of us to do is to take time for our homes, by which I mean to take time to spend with our family members and with our friends. Take some time not only for rest, but also for recreation and fellowship with those to whom we are the closest. I know how busy life can be, and yet it is important that families take time to sit down together and share a meal where they can reconnect with one another. It is important that families do things together that serve to strengthen the bonds that tie them together.

It does not have to be anything expensive or extravagant. It can be something as simple as watching a movie together at home, or going to the beach or to a pool. It can be sharing in a household project together or going out to get an ice cream cone on a summer night. Strong families and strong marriages do not happen accidentally. They happen because people intentionally take the time to be together.

I am convinced that just being together again was part of what Jesus had in mind in Mark 6 when he invited his disciples to pull away for a while. He wanted them to get back together again. He wanted them to restore and refresh their relationship with one another. Like many of our families, the disciples had gone off in different directions and had lost contact with each other. Jesus wanted them to get back together. Many times our families are pulled in different directions; school, work, social events, household chores and more. Every now and then it is important for us to pull away from all of that long enough to reconnect with our family and with our friends. These are the persons who are our life partners, and we need to nurture those relationships every chance we get.