Remember the Fourth
Sometimes you end up writing something that you know is great advice, but you are absolutely horrible about following it yourself. This is one of those times. Learn from my mistakes, but more importantly, keep me accountable.
There are a multitude of things that we know are sins and that we have no problem judging people on. We can all hopefully agree that murder and stealing are wrong. Lying is frowned upon, especially when someone is lying to you (we try to make up our own excuses for why our lies aren’t bad). Cheating on your spouse is devastating to way more than just the two people involved. Like I said, these are pretty obviously wrong, and it’s one of the reasons why they were included in the ten commandments.
The first three commandments are almost the definition of calling oneself a Christian, and then there’s the second half that we already covered a bit. But there’s this pesky fourth command that we ignore. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. I don’t want to get into the debate between Saturday and Sunday, worship, old covenant/new covenant, or the legalism that Jesus had to fight. But maybe we should start from the assumption that God wasn’t crazy for telling us to take a break.
And that’s where my struggle is. I am not great at taking a break from work. Even when I’m not physically at work I’m thinking about work, or playing catch up around the house trying to get all the chores done. It feels like there is always the next thing on the list that needs to be done. The worst thing is, I look at other people who always seem to be doing something and think they are busier than I am and that maybe I need to do more. I know I’m not alone, but being a workaholic is a culturally accepted, and even sometimes revered, sin.
God never intended us to work all the time. We have to take regular breaks, and it just so happens that God gave us a pretty easy to remember standard. One day a week. One day where, for all intents and purposes, you relax and rejuvenate. You take the time to worship God, and you do as little as possible beyond that.
I’m not here to tell you exactly what it has to look like for you. After all I’m fully admitting I have a problem with my own healthy boundaries. However, after just going through the busiest month of the year where my own body tried to betray me and tell me to take it easy, then having a vacation where I did puzzles and hung out with family, its important for you to take the time to figure it out. Leave room for God to work in other people as you step back and let God rejuvenate you. One way or another, life will eventually go one without you. You are a child of God, and we all know kids need naps. Seriously, be like Jesus, take naps.