God gave Moses 10 simple commandments. He told us what He wanted. He told us how to live. Somehow, resting made it into God’s top ten. So, is overwork a sin?
Taking regular breaks to rest in Him is one of the top ten things a person can and should do.If you don’t rest, you’re out of God’s will.
God created the world in six days, and took a break. On the Sabbath, the whole nation took a break, convenient or not. Sabbaths came in the busy harvest seasons or the slow winter months. On the Sabbath, nations stopped and remembered the God who rested.
Do we take breaks? Our society doesn’t value rest. Our nation rose from the ground on the shoulders of millions of tireless workers who cleared land, established government, planted crops, built cities and traded with the world. We admire those who do it all and try to follow their example.
Most Sabbath breaking doesn’t come from a desire to be rebellious. It comes from misplaced effort. Most of us want to please God. We try and do it all, and our souls and spirits suffer.
Very little resting gets done most weekends, and we drag ourselves our of bed to face Monday. For church leaders, Sunday is a work day filled with classes, meetings, bible studies, kids church, fellowships, sermons, committees, and song-sets. It’s a whirlwind of activity that fills us, strengthens us, and wears us out.
Saturday isn’t much better. We do chores, mow lawns, buy groceries, do laundry, run to the kid’s (or grandkid’s) games, or visit family. We need to do these things, but we also need to rest.
We can’t stop serving God, and we have to care for our homes. Sometimes doing nothing is exactly what we should be doing. We can sin by trying to do more than we were called to do. If God Himself took a break, we can too. Jesus said He’d build the church. It’s not our job.
5 Things To Consider Before You Overwork:
1) Value Rest because it will make you more effective.
2) Learn to Rest because most of us aren’t good at it.
3) Remember God loves You because of who is He not what you do.
4) Activity is not Rest so don’t substitute playing for resting.
5) Life Happens in the Margins and planing to rest give you room for interruptions.
How to Rest:
1) Turn off your phone.
2) Don’t check your email.
3) Sit on your porch and enjoy the outside.
4) Sit in your favorite chair.
5) Take a nap.
6) Rest with your family on the couch.
7) Don’t check anything off your to-do list.
8) Let His love sooth your weary soul.
9) Do nothing, and know it’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.
Do you have more you’d add to this list? If so, leave them in the comments section below.
