For an old guy, I go pretty hard. I am constantly on the go, I move from one project or task to the next. Obviously, from my physical appearance, most of my tasks require mental acuteness rather than physical endurance, but still on-the-go. It seems that no matter how much I accomplish or how much I check off of my list, there is always more to do. And so, on to the next thing. Like most of us, I thrive for the feeling of accomplishment. But I never allow myself the satisfaction of enjoying a job well done, because the next job awaits.
This may sound boastful, but for me, it is really more of a confession of sin. My preoccupation as a task master, while seemingly productive, is probably the biggest obstacle to my spiritual growth. Don’t be mistaken, even through my endless checklist, I serve God. He is always near and I do my best to be the most faithful servant I can be (Psalms 145:18). However, much like in exercise or weight lifting, the muscle grows after it is torn and exhausted. It grows in the recovery.
I believe, that this is the sole reason for the Sabbath. But most of our world gets this very wrong. We treat Sunday as our day to worship the Lord in between getting our projects done, preparing for the week ahead, or some other method of checking tasks off of our list. There are two problems with the way we typically approach the Sabbath. First, we ‘save’ our worship for attending church on Sunday. That is what the Sabbath is for right? I mean, God set aside a day to worship him, so we will do it on that day. Second, while we may not actually go to work on Sunday, we still sandwich our worship between household chores, projects, or some other method of checking tasks off of our list. Never really resting as we are called to do (Isaiah 58:13-14). The Sabbath should not be the only time we worship God, but it should be the time that we only worship God. The rule of thumb should be, if the task does not directly reflect your Love for God, or Love for others – save it until tomorrow.
Like many of us, I don’t have any problems with the worship part of the Sabbath. Where I struggle is with the resting. And for this reason, I never really recover from the wears and tears of the week prior, nor do I every fully prepare for the week ahead. Without this recovery period, I cannot fully perform or grow to my God given potential. Even when I physically stop myself from doing any more tasks for the week, my brain just runs through everything that needs to be done or what I should be doing instead of resting. What most of us fail to realize is that this mindset feels like it is noble because we are striving to do more, to be more, and to accomplish more. The Biblical reality is that this behavior is direct disobedience of God (Exodus 33:14).
Most of us feel like we cannot rest because we need to be accomplishing things. And even if we think we are accomplishing things for God, so it’s okay not to rest. We feel like we have to sow the seeds and reap the harvest- it all depends on us. But ironically, Jesus reminds us that our job is to sow the seed, from there God produces a harvest – not us (Mark 4:26-27).
If we live our lives according to the Gospel, and we worship God in our everyday with gratitude in our hearts (Colossians 3:16)– then what really sets the Sabbath apart is the rest. If we can focus on rest and the recovery during the Sabbath, worshiping God and trusting Him to attend to our harvest, I know He will continue to move on our behalf and prepare us for the growth and greater things that He has planned for us. This Sunday, if the task doesn’t show Love for God or Love of others, don’t do it and see how rested and recovered you feel.
Dadvotionals 