The Sweet influence of the Sabbath
Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911), converted to Jesus in 1858 through the influence of the Plymouth Brethren. Her husband (Robert) too converted at a later time would not stay with Christ, sadly he claimed Buddhism in his later years. Yet amidst a very difficult life Hannah continued with her Lord and in 1875 penned the spiritual classic ~ The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life.
Hannah became a prolific and popular Christian writer and speaker, she too wrote this delightful parable:
Among the peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains, not far from the busy swirl of San Francisco, lies Lake Tahoe. It is 23 miles long, 10 miles wide, and so deep that a line dropped 1900 feet does not touch the bottom; and it lies 5000 feet above the neighboring ocean. Storms come and go in waters lower down the mountains, but this lake is so still and clear that the eye can penetrate, it is said, 100 feet into its depths. Around Lake Tahoe's mild, verdant sides are the mountains, ever crowned with snow. The sky above is as calm as the motionless water. Nature loses scarcely nothing of its clear outline as it is reflected there. Here the soul may learn something of what rest is, as day after day one opens one's heart to let the sweet influence of nature's sabbath enter and reign. This is but a faint type of what we may find in Christ.
In the pressure of the greatest responsibilities, in the worry of the smallest cares, in the perplexities of life's crisis moments we look to rest, that rest Lake Tahoe holds, enjoying the security of our sovereign God. Learn to live in this rest. From the calmness of spirit it will give, your soul will reflect as in a mirror the beautiful wonder of the Lord; and the tumult of lives will be calmed in your presence, as your tumults have been calmed in His presence.
Jesus often withdrew to lonely places, ... Jesus withdrew again to a mountain by Himself. (Luke 5:16b & John 6:15b)
Jesus modeled life as a Christian. His actions always carry far more 'meat' than just a blessing for Himself.
The Last Word:
'The brook would lose its babble if it neglected its source.