The giant red and white kite soared high against the deep blue sky.  With a tail half the length of a football field, the kite danced and tugged, pulling with all its might in a quest for more height.  

The kite flew high over the six-lane road filled wall-to-wall with cars and trucks that sped 60 miles an hour in a 45 zone; Racing from one green light they charged in an effort to beat the next red light.  All alone in the sky, the kite seemed to laugh at the racing, congestion and mess of traffic down below.

An old man held the string with a pulley contraption and sat on a comfortable lawn-chair with a genuinely content smile on his face.  He’d been sitting there all afternoon, relaxing, praying and watching his kite dance.

I wish I could relax like the old man.  Instead, I’m often the guy waiting for the green light, racing to the red, pushing from deadline to deadline, list to list to get things done. Too often, my mind is filled with tasks to do, people to call, things to accomplish.

More than 3000 years ago, a wise King Solomon talked about this race we are running when he said, “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.” (Ecc 4:6 (NIV))

So the question of the day is who are you?  Are you the old man who can relax and pray, or are you racing with the world, from light to red light? Are you Mary who can sit content in the presence of Jesus or Martha who scurries and worries?   Do you have one hand of tranquility or two handfuls with toil?

God is calling you to rest with him today.