remember the Sabbath?
What are your favorite pastimes? What do you do when you simply need to enjoy? How do you relieve the tension of living? Do you ever get caught up in doing so much that you find yourself just crashing when you have the opportunity to rest?
God created rest for us to enjoy it. In routinely resting, in taking pauses in our fast track lives, God gives us the grace of helping us enjoy life more abundantly.
In the very act of creation God intentionally ceased upon the seventh day. In setting this precedent of rest, God gave to us a precious gift. Some would call it a creational ordinance. I call it the tender teaching of a father. God modeled for us the Sabbath. He would later instruct his people to remember the Sabbath and to maintain its holiness.
In high school I spent much of my time drawing. I sketched on every scrap of paper I could find. This is what I had done all the while as I grew up. Later, in college, I discovered a love of books at around the same time I discovered the love of God. Literature was a feast to be savored. Theology was a hunger that could not be satiated. All along the way I have immersed myself in the enjoyment of music. There is nothing sweeter to soothe my troubled mind than to hear the human voice... the voice alone... lifting praises to heaven.
Somehow I have gotten accustomed to filling my days and nights with so much to do that I have lost sight of the joys of this life. When I find myself with a few free moments I don't know what to do. It's easier to put a movie on than try to find something that resembles a hobby. I sometimes think I've forgotten myself in the flurry of tasks.
It can become so easy to get in the habit of doing Christianity and filling responsibilities that living and being fall by the wayside. Weeks and months pass by without the slightest hint of true rest. The Sabbath is forgotten. it is disregarded as an archaic and trite practice under the Law. We desire to observe the other 9 Commandments, but opt for the line item veto on the preservation of one day per week. God commands one day to be set aside in observation of holiness. But we scoff at it. Excuses flutter and fly around like disgusting mosquitoes on a muggy summer night. In my opinion we'd be better off if mosquitoes and excuses would cease to exist. God gave us this command. Before that He showed us this example. What is our response? We laugh and say that we're too busy to take one whole day off. Are we really more important on this earth than God is? Do we think that God didn't have work He could be doing on that very first Sabbath? He did this for us! He presented us the gift of a holy rest so that we would enjoy the bounty of His creation.
Aren't you tired of being tired? I'm weary of getting sick once a week because my body can't keep up with my day planner. I will keep the Sabbath. By the grace of God, I will seek to keep it holy in praise of He who created. May God be glorified as I delight in the joys of life.
Maybe I'll get back to drawing, painting, or photography. Perhaps I'll dive into a book for pleasure instead of research. I might take a walk and then cook dinner. What if I just sleep?
What do you think? Don't you think that maybe God's right on this one too? Do you think there might be the slightest possibility that the world will keep turning without you pounding every second out of that poor pitiful clock? Could it be so simple... that the way to enjoy life is to actually stop and smell the roses? I think it's worth thinking about. Maybe you should set aside a day and ponder it.
God created rest for us to enjoy it. In routinely resting, in taking pauses in our fast track lives, God gives us the grace of helping us enjoy life more abundantly.
In the very act of creation God intentionally ceased upon the seventh day. In setting this precedent of rest, God gave to us a precious gift. Some would call it a creational ordinance. I call it the tender teaching of a father. God modeled for us the Sabbath. He would later instruct his people to remember the Sabbath and to maintain its holiness.
In high school I spent much of my time drawing. I sketched on every scrap of paper I could find. This is what I had done all the while as I grew up. Later, in college, I discovered a love of books at around the same time I discovered the love of God. Literature was a feast to be savored. Theology was a hunger that could not be satiated. All along the way I have immersed myself in the enjoyment of music. There is nothing sweeter to soothe my troubled mind than to hear the human voice... the voice alone... lifting praises to heaven.
Somehow I have gotten accustomed to filling my days and nights with so much to do that I have lost sight of the joys of this life. When I find myself with a few free moments I don't know what to do. It's easier to put a movie on than try to find something that resembles a hobby. I sometimes think I've forgotten myself in the flurry of tasks.
It can become so easy to get in the habit of doing Christianity and filling responsibilities that living and being fall by the wayside. Weeks and months pass by without the slightest hint of true rest. The Sabbath is forgotten. it is disregarded as an archaic and trite practice under the Law. We desire to observe the other 9 Commandments, but opt for the line item veto on the preservation of one day per week. God commands one day to be set aside in observation of holiness. But we scoff at it. Excuses flutter and fly around like disgusting mosquitoes on a muggy summer night. In my opinion we'd be better off if mosquitoes and excuses would cease to exist. God gave us this command. Before that He showed us this example. What is our response? We laugh and say that we're too busy to take one whole day off. Are we really more important on this earth than God is? Do we think that God didn't have work He could be doing on that very first Sabbath? He did this for us! He presented us the gift of a holy rest so that we would enjoy the bounty of His creation.
Aren't you tired of being tired? I'm weary of getting sick once a week because my body can't keep up with my day planner. I will keep the Sabbath. By the grace of God, I will seek to keep it holy in praise of He who created. May God be glorified as I delight in the joys of life.
Maybe I'll get back to drawing, painting, or photography. Perhaps I'll dive into a book for pleasure instead of research. I might take a walk and then cook dinner. What if I just sleep?
What do you think? Don't you think that maybe God's right on this one too? Do you think there might be the slightest possibility that the world will keep turning without you pounding every second out of that poor pitiful clock? Could it be so simple... that the way to enjoy life is to actually stop and smell the roses? I think it's worth thinking about. Maybe you should set aside a day and ponder it.
posted by Gregg @ 11:15 PM
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