Stop and smell the roses is a phrase that I’ve always understood, but
never in my gut. I grew up with roses, and they didn’t smell great nor did they look great and my only interaction with them was pruning from which I invariably ended up with a cut or two from the thorns. Why would one want to stop and smell them? Well, you don’t stop and smell them for their sake, but for yours. Jesus in His ministry as it is
remembered by His Disciples, took time to smell the roses. He took
time to slow down. I don’t mean on the long walks from one place to
another, or that it was a slower pace than today. But after great exertion, or a lengthy period of work, Jesus took the time to slow His own pace, taking time for his own spirit.

After preaching to the crowds from the boat and feeding the thousands that had gathered, Jesus took one such break. He sent his disciples ahead to the place that they were going, while Jesus went up a mountain to pray. He needed to pray, to stop and experience something far sweeter than roses, peace.

This is not the first time, nor is it the last time that Jesus went away to
pray, to find peace, to be with God. If we are called to be more
Christlike, and if we take that call seriously, we too need to find time to
pray, to be with our God.

For me, I don’t stop to smell the roses, I stop and look to the mountains,
or seek the horizon on the water. And no, I don’t do it enough either. But let this be a reminder to all of us: Seek your God in prayer and in peace; make time for it.