“Come with Me to a quiet place and get some rest.” – Jesus, as quoted in Mark 6:31 (NIV)

One of the things I enjoy doing in the evenings after supper (besides watch the Pirates game) is putting a jigsaw puzzle together on my Kindle.

Yes, you read that right—there are jigsaw puzzle apps that can be downloaded to mobile devices. I downloaded only one puzzle app (a free one) on my Kindle, but it’s so much fun, I’ll put together three puzzles in one evening.

Now, working on a jigsaw puzzle is a good mind-stimulating activity, and such activities have been proven to sharpen the brains of us senior citizens. The problem with that is I don’t need my mind to be stimulated in the evening when I’m wanting—needing—to unwind, physically and mentally, after a full day’s work. And the glow from electronic screens, it’s been found, can interfere with the body’s production of the sleep hormone melatonin, causing insomnia.

After a couple of weeks of restless, broken sleep, I removed the jigsaw puzzle app from my Kindle, not only so I could get a better night’s rest, but also because the app was causing my Kindle to crash.

For those of you who blissfully aren’t into technology, a crash occurs when the device, whether a mobile phone, Kindle, or computer, stops working. Sometimes only the program being used stops. Other times, the whole thing freezes up and you have to shut it off and turn it on again. That’s called “rebooting.”

My Kindle also crashes when I get too many apps going at the same time or the battery gets low. And that jigsaw puzzle app sure drains the battery fast.

I’m just like my Kindle—there are times I “crash” too. Like when I take on a project that eats up precious time and energy but has little or no real value. Or when I get too many things going at the same time (I’m not a good multi-tasker). Or when I don’t give my batteries enough time to recharge before I’m up and running again.

Like my Kindle, I need to reboot—shut off the busyness and plug in to the Power Source long enough to recharge sufficiently.

Studies have found that spending a week in the great outdoors camping and getting away from electronic devices and the too noisy, too bright world we live in can reset our biological clocks, restoring the natural rhythms our Creator gave us.

Too often we rush through day after day after day, we burn the midnight oil to get more done, and we exhaust ourselves in the process. There’s a reason God established the Sabbath rest: We need it—physically, mentally, and spiritually—or we, too, will “crash.”

“Come away with Me to a quiet place and get some rest,” Jesus told His disciples after a busy time of ministry.

He beckons to us today: “Come to Me all you who are weary, and I will give you rest. Let Me lead you beside quiet waters. Rest in verdant, peaceful pastures.” (Matthew 11:28,Psalm 23)

Do you feel as though you’re heading for a crash?

It’s time, my friend, to reboot.

When I’m heading for a crash, O Lord, unplug me! Amen.

Extra tea: Read and meditate on Genesis 2:1–3; 1 Kings 17:2–4