Recently I was blessed with a new vehicle: a black, four-door, hardtop Jeep Wrangler. It’s fun to drive and pretty stylish, at least to me. It came with an owner’s manual and even a DVD for helping me learn all about my Jeep. The resources included maintenance schedules for oil changes, tire rotations, tune-ups, and more. Following the schedules will keep the Jeep running at maximum efficiency.

Most things we own require maintenance. My computer, tablet, and smartphone often need a software update to operate optimally. The list could go on almost endlessly: my air conditioner needs filters; my smoke detector needs batteries; my guitar needs strings, and so on.

In the same way, my spiritual life needs regular maintenance. I need to tend my life with the things that help me grow in love and faith. The church word for this is piety, “the practice of spiritual disciplines.” There are the basics: prayer, worship, devotion, Bible study, service, mission, and fellowship. I need to practice all of them as part of my daily life if I want to run at full spiritual optimization.

For my Jeep, in addition to the routine maintenance I provide, I will need to take it in for periodic service check-ups. And when something goes awry, I will have to take it in for repair. I have discovered that in my spiritual life there are times when I need to pull away from this world and intentionally enter a retreat. My life must go into the “shop” for a tune-up.

Taking a regular retreat to pursue Jesus is vital to your spiritual life.

I do this at least twice a year, and I took such a retreat in April at a hermitage in Valle Crucis, North Carolina. It is a glorious space and has become a place where I connect, learn, grow, dream, discover, and decide. This piety is essential for my spiritual health. Think about the Ten Commandments. Isn’t it interesting that along with such core values as having no other gods before the one true God and not committing murder, we find the admonition to keep the Sabbath? Why is that? In a mathematical sense, the call is for me to set aside one-seventh of my time to the Lord (one day a week/52 days a year). I cannot count the lessons I learn or the benefits I receive when I make this my practice.

Clearly God considers it of high value that we create space, sacred space, to focus on him. Perhaps you’ve heard someone say, “You cannot give away what you do not have.” For me to be the most effective, productive person I can be in mission and ministry, I need to have a vibrant, growing faith to share with others. Part of cultivating that vibrant faith must include taking time away to pursue Jesus.

In my current role as the executive director of Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center, I see people every day who are escaping the crazy routine of the world, if only for a few moments or days. They pull away from the grind; they fall off the social media/information grid; they retreat on the Canterbury campus to pray, be still, and gather themselves for the next task or the next season of life. They are not the only ones who value this.

Jesus lived this way. Jesus, speaking to his disciples, said, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31b, NIV). If Jesus lived in Central Florida, perhaps he would have brought his disciples with him to Canterbury. I’d like to think so.

I invite you to pull off of the heavily trafficked highways of life and enter a sacred space. Whether at Canterbury, on the beach, in your backyard, or during a walk in a park, I encourage you to find your faith afresh, nurture your love for Christ, and gather strength from moments of holy solitude in the Lord’s presence.

The following statement by Jesus is taken out of context, but the words ring true in this moment. He said, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away” (John 16:7a, ESV). While serving a congregation, I would quip that line when referring to an upcoming hermitage retreat I had posted to my calendar. We all discovered that Jesus’ statement is true: it is good to go away, for in doing so the return is full of vision, purpose, insights, and renewed energy.

The Rev. Jon Davis, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center, Oviedo, FL.