Remember the Sabbath . . .

We are so busy in this life that sometimes I ask myself, "Why do I do this to myself?"  You do it to yourself too, don't you?  Cram your day with activities, volunteer for one too many things, run your kids here and there so they can be just as busy as you are, grab your lunch on the go and fall into bed at night exhausted from it all.  Seems like a sickness to me!  Especially in conversations where we have to "out-busy" each other:  "I was so busy this week!  I had to do this and that and the other thing. . . " to which your friend replies, "I know it!  I was so busy I didn't have time to do the things I needed to do and now I have to go and do those when all I really want to do is sit down and read a book!"  


And on it goes.  Is there a contest for being busy?  Does the busiest person win the prize?  If so, what is the prize? Fatigue, frazzled nerves, forgetting to pray and feeling alone neglected by God, sore feet, sore eyes, sore bones?  Hmmmm, some prize there!


When will we stop and rest?  Even God rested:  "Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. ThereforeGod blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day." (Exodus 20 from The Message)

Do everything you NEED to do.  We often talk about wants and needs in regard to our stewardship of money, but what about the stewardship of time?  Are we giving God any time?  Do we give the One who loves us most any quality time or just a passing thought here and there?  There are some things you don't NEED to do right now, they can wait you know! Do we really have to fill up every moment of every day doing something whether it matters or not? If not, then why do we??


Even God rested.  Are we better than God- super stamina human beings that can go and go and go without stopping?  Maybe we are adrenaline junkies and the thrill of being on the move all the time is what gets us through the day, that if stopped to rest and listen to God we might actually  hear something we aren't ready to hear?  However, I think we need to hear it.  Whatever it is God wants to say to us, or simply to BE with us-- we need it.  


There's something that happens to us when we rest-- it's the opposite of the adrenalin-high we get from racing and rushing around.  It is peace.  It is calm.  It is a sense of wellbeing.  It is a surge of God-given-serotonin or oxytocin-- neurotransmitters that flood our brains and make us feel at ease.  God created those you know and scientific studies show that our brains "on prayer" are much more at ease!  God is amazing like that! We don't need a scientific study to tell us that, do we?  We know from experience that God gives the only peace that passes understanding.  But it sure is hard to sit with God and bask in that peace if we are running around like a bunch of hamsters on a treadmill.  


So then, take a day off, or two!  And don't feel guilty either!! 
Don't say to me, "Well I work on Sundays so I don't get a sabbath!"  Phooey!  Take another day off then, just to BE with God.  Take a walk and intentionally BE with God.  Rest in the Lord.  He will rejuvenate your troubled spirit.  He will draw you closer to his heart where you know for sure that you are loved and cherished.  Be good to yourself because rest is holy and spending quality time with God is holy- he asked us to set it aside, no- strike that- he commanded it-- think he had a reason for doing that?  


Image credit:  http://wallpaper-s.org/15__Rest_Stop,_Brown_Bear.htm