Day 7

I’m REALLY looking forward to Saturday.

My mind has always been a hamster wheel on steroids (doesn't always go somewhere, but man can it spin). Growing up, I was always thinking through some Random Technical Thought. One example in the 5th grade involved trying to invent a levitating device with a box and a pair of electromagnets (that idea put a smile on my science teacher's face. He then asked me to let him know the outcome; adults can be so cruel).

My mind was also busy creating storylines in my head. Like how I escaped a stricken airliner, miraculously survived a plummet into the ocean, washed ashore on a Cuban beach, and ignited a revolution that restored freedom and democracy to my peoples (this was just one SEGMENT of a storyline).

Remember Ralph Phillips from the animated Loony Toons series of the fifties? That was me!

I would think so much as a child, that I had chronic insomnia. I couldn't help it. My mother would tell me that I needed my sleep and to just stop thinking (like that was going to happen). It got to the point that I got pretty good at faking sleep when mom came in to turn off the wall AC unit (it helped cut our energy bills).

As a matter of fact, I'm writing this entry at 12:23am on a Tuesday morning. I'm writing NOW for several reasons:
(A) I just finished watching my beloved Miami Dolphins beat their divisional rivals (the New York Jets) on Monday Night Football. We scored a touchdown with six seconds left in the game to retake the lead, and my adrenaline is still flowing …
(B) I just checked my schedule for the week and I'm crunched for time because of all that needs to be done for our Community Coffeehouse on Friday and our church's total makeover Open House on Sunday, and …
(C) Saturday.

Saturday I'm doing nothing.

Nothing related to work, that is.

Ahhhhhh….

It's crazy, I know. There are a lot of tiny details I could prepare for on Saturday to really make our Open House pop.

But six days are enough.

The opening chapters of Genesis give us a blueprint. Work six days, and then take a rest. It's a cycle, a rhythm. It's necessary from a physical, mental, and spiritual perspective. Our bodies need a break from daily labor to recharge. The mind as well needs a change of pace to keep functioning at a high level.

But spiritually?

The day of rest is a declaration that God provides for our needs. Do I trust that six days of work are enough? He commands that we rest to showcase His provision. It’s so important that it’s one of the Ten Commandments.

Do I trust God enough to focus my energy on my work days so that I can take a day of rest sandwiched between two high-profile events?

Can we all learn to take a day to rest from our jobs on a regular basis?



Genesis 2:1-3
So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

Exodus 20:8-11“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

Psalm 127:1-2
Unless the LORD builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the LORD protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.

(Thank you Charlie for bringing that Psalm to my attention!)

Joe


Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.