Can I really take time off?

Gods plan for taking a break

Well today is our first day of holidays.

I actually wrote this on Saturday, and most of my blog entries for the next couple of weeks will be scheduled in advance so that I spend time with my family and not my laptop.

The past couple of days I have been reflecting on the Biblical notion of Sabbath. I thought I would continue that line of thinking today:

For the Pharisees, Sabbath had become a religious ritual, and in fact had become the day of most complex ‘religious’ work in the week. It was in this context that Jesus said:

Mark 2:27-28 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus’ clarification of the purpose of the Sabbath didn’t disband the need for it though. In Hebrews we see:

Hebrews 4:9 -11 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

I find it very interesting what the writer of Hebrews decides to say next:

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

One of my favourite verses comes straight after the exhortation to make every effort to enter God’s rest. Hebrews 4:12 seems to indicate that in order to really rest we are going to need some help.

The messiness of our soul is going to need to be differentiated from the beauty of our spirit, our thoughts and our attitudes are going to need to be examined.

I know that its possible for me to change my external circumstances but still not change what is actually going on for me.

I love that God wants me to rest. I also know, as Hebrews indicates that real rest takes an effort.

Part of me would like to see a holiday as a place where the world revolves around me. I get up when I want, eat what I want and everybody does what I tell them. That’s not what the bible is calling a rest.

The idea of a Sabbath rest is one where I am able to orientate around the creator of the universe. As I actually do that I find the weight of the world is no longer on my shoulders but on His, and I no longer need to spend all my time ‘escaping’, but find myself living.

I love the idea of re-creation, of choosing to engage with life rather than disengage.

As I reflect back on the holidays that have been the most life-giving for me, they have been the ones where I made choices to be and do rather than escape.

As my holiday begins today, I know that I will need to make an effort to rest. Sounds like a paradox, but it’s just so true!