Here's what I caught myself doing last week. You know we've been talking about taking one day of rest out of the week, that God has made us in such a way that we need this for our spiritual, physical, emotional, and relational well being. And I have to chuckle at how hard we fighting against the idea (it's like dragging my kids off to bed when they're little--"But I'm not tired, I don't need to sleep!" Then they become teenagers and sleep for 12 hours a day.) So for me I'm trying to set aside Tuesdays as my Sabbath, and thinking about the 4th command and all, and I caught myself saying, "Okay, how should I schedule my Sabbath day? what kinds of things should I be doing, how can I fill this time with activity to make sure that I'm getting the most out of?" Just looking at my Sabbath schedule wore me out.
And that's not to say that we shouldn't have some ideas of how we should spend our Sabbaths, and I'm going to suggest some here in a sec, but I think we need to make sure this isn't just another thing on our to do list. It's supposed to be refreshing, restful. You agenda anxiety people (you know who you are!) are going to want to strangle the enjoyment right out of this day. And you "life just happens to you" people (you know who I am..er.. you are!) aren't going to put enough thought into it and miss out of what it can be for you. So let me give you some input, some ways that I'm learning to put this into practice.
1. you need to stop working at what you normally work at. This is pretty basic. 6 days of work, one day of non-work. No going into the office. No bringing the office home. No watching The Office...no, that's a joke. You can watch The Office as long as it doesn't make you think about your office and all the work you need to get done. And you really should stop thinking about your work too, as much as that's possible. Set it aside. It's possible.
2. Don't just replace one kind of work with another. If it's an "I have to..." whatever, it's probably work. Most of you work five day weeks anyway, use the 6th day to do the stuff you "have" to get done. If it doesn't refresh you, doesn't re energize you, you probably shouldn't be doing it! And that's gong to be different for all of you. What refreshes you is not going to refresh me (yard-work.) What energizes you won't energize me (yard-work.) What yard-works you won't yard-work...are you getting the picture? It should be a day of enjoyable things, restoring things.
3. Build some things in that connect you with God. Now most of your Sabbaths will probably be on Sunday, And I know that one of the things you'll want to do (this can't possibly be a "have to") is to use our worship worship as one of the ways you connect with, think about, thank, and focus on God. That's what it's designed for, you might as well use it. And get somewhere where you sense God's presence,w hat some people have called your "thin places." (I love to be in my thin place!) Places where you easily commune with God, hear from him, talk to him. The beach, if we had one. The mountains. On a walk. Doing yard work (really?)
4. Connect with your spouse and kids. In a relaxed way. Spending time with them. Listening, chatting, allowing for the oft chance that something important might happen!
5. Play a little. We all know that exercise is refreshing. Throw the ball with your kids. (or kick it, if that's your thing) Dust off the Monopoly board. Go to the park. Swing. Geez, do I have to think of everything for you? Have you forgotten how to play? No wonder you need this day of rest!
Those are just some parameters. There's a lot of room for how you're built and what brings you rest here. I think there's probably really only one hard and fast rule that should be followed--NO WORKING!
And for those of you who are saying, "I just don't have the time for this, I've got too much to do." Here's what I believe--if you'd be willing to start taking this day of rest, you'd find the remainder of your time, the other six days, that you were more productive and able to squeeze everything you needed to get done into those. I think God would kind of multiply your other time because you were willing to trust him with this time.
So I've decided to build a day of rest into my schedule, and I'm not going to lose any sleep over it!
And that's not to say that we shouldn't have some ideas of how we should spend our Sabbaths, and I'm going to suggest some here in a sec, but I think we need to make sure this isn't just another thing on our to do list. It's supposed to be refreshing, restful. You agenda anxiety people (you know who you are!) are going to want to strangle the enjoyment right out of this day. And you "life just happens to you" people (you know who I am..er.. you are!) aren't going to put enough thought into it and miss out of what it can be for you. So let me give you some input, some ways that I'm learning to put this into practice.
1. you need to stop working at what you normally work at. This is pretty basic. 6 days of work, one day of non-work. No going into the office. No bringing the office home. No watching The Office...no, that's a joke. You can watch The Office as long as it doesn't make you think about your office and all the work you need to get done. And you really should stop thinking about your work too, as much as that's possible. Set it aside. It's possible.
2. Don't just replace one kind of work with another. If it's an "I have to..." whatever, it's probably work. Most of you work five day weeks anyway, use the 6th day to do the stuff you "have" to get done. If it doesn't refresh you, doesn't re energize you, you probably shouldn't be doing it! And that's gong to be different for all of you. What refreshes you is not going to refresh me (yard-work.) What energizes you won't energize me (yard-work.) What yard-works you won't yard-work...are you getting the picture? It should be a day of enjoyable things, restoring things.
3. Build some things in that connect you with God. Now most of your Sabbaths will probably be on Sunday, And I know that one of the things you'll want to do (this can't possibly be a "have to") is to use our worship worship as one of the ways you connect with, think about, thank, and focus on God. That's what it's designed for, you might as well use it. And get somewhere where you sense God's presence,w hat some people have called your "thin places." (I love to be in my thin place!) Places where you easily commune with God, hear from him, talk to him. The beach, if we had one. The mountains. On a walk. Doing yard work (really?)
4. Connect with your spouse and kids. In a relaxed way. Spending time with them. Listening, chatting, allowing for the oft chance that something important might happen!
5. Play a little. We all know that exercise is refreshing. Throw the ball with your kids. (or kick it, if that's your thing) Dust off the Monopoly board. Go to the park. Swing. Geez, do I have to think of everything for you? Have you forgotten how to play? No wonder you need this day of rest!
Those are just some parameters. There's a lot of room for how you're built and what brings you rest here. I think there's probably really only one hard and fast rule that should be followed--NO WORKING!
And for those of you who are saying, "I just don't have the time for this, I've got too much to do." Here's what I believe--if you'd be willing to start taking this day of rest, you'd find the remainder of your time, the other six days, that you were more productive and able to squeeze everything you needed to get done into those. I think God would kind of multiply your other time because you were willing to trust him with this time.
So I've decided to build a day of rest into my schedule, and I'm not going to lose any sleep over it!
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