Everybody Deserves a Break Today!

As the Easter season approaches and Spring Break looms just around the corner, I am reminded that I’ve been a little delinquent in my updating this BLOG. Oh well, such is life sometimes. It seems that the pace of life often accelerates into warp speed from time to time and when it does so much gets pushed to the sidelines of our lives!

That is why in the next upcoming BLOGS I want to focus on how we can begin to implement some biblical principles into our lives for slowing down in the craziness that is life today. The TRUTH is... life is hectic and fast paced... it is fast and furious more than we sometimes like or care for! Because of that it seems like this precious commodity called time, is slipping away more and more with each passing day.

You know, there is an interesting term that has become very popular in our culture these days, and that term is 24/7! I certainly don’t remember hearing my parents use this term, and I never used this term growing up. In fact, I don’t even remember hearing this term much in the 80’s, or even until the early 90’s. But in the last 10 years or so this funny little term has become the mantra of our western culture.

Even the people at Webster’s dictionary have acknowledged the popularity of this new term by giving it a spot in the most recent releases of their dictionaries. The 24 refers to twenty-four hours and 7 stands for seven days a week. 24/7 has become the standard pace of life in our culture and that means one thing, our pace of life is nonstop!

Many of us constantly find ourselves running at break neck speed, and there seems to be no end in sight. This pace of life affects people from all walks of life, and sadly at almost any age these days. People who live life 24/7 are always running, working, pushing, and producing – so they can keep on running, working, pushing and producing.

Now... when that happens the net result for many people is they become overloaded, overworked, overcommitted, overextended and overwhelmed! And when we find ourselves in anyone of these places life can sometimes be more than we can handle. So what’s a person to do? How can we find some balance to our often-unbalanced lives?

Well, the first principle that the Bible discusses, that can help us to refocus our lives in this 24/7 world, is the principle of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is something that God instituted from the beginning of time. In the opening chapters of the first book of the Bible, it states...

“On the seventh day, having finished his task, God rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from his work of creation.” (Genesis 2:2-3)

In this passage we see that God created the world in six days and then he rested on the seventh. Now, he didn’t rest because he was tired, instead he rested in order to set an example for the rest of us!

God understands that we all need rest and the Sabbath is God-designed to be our resting place in life. It is designed to be the place that keeps our days from running into each other. It is that space and place for us to slow down and rest from the break neck pace of life. It is the space that protects us from the cumulative effects of living 24/7! For many thousands of years, people and nations have observed the Sabbath.

But more recently, especially in our Western world we have abandoned this principle as God instituted it from the beginning of time. A Sabbath is intended to be a day in our lives when we rest from the work and the craziness of life. A Sabbath is intended to be a day of rest and worship. A Sabbath is intended to be a day where we allow ourselves to slow down and smell the roses. It’s intended to be a day when we allow ourselves to appreciate all that God has given us!

The truth is... none of us are designed to run 24/7. If you’re feeling like life is hectic and out of control, if you’re at a place where you’re wondering if life is ever going to slow down, then maybe it’s time for you to find a way to begin to institute this timeless principle into your life. God designed us to rest and he provided us with the example. Maybe it’s time you tried it his way, instead of striving to make life work 24/7 on your own!

Till we connect again… I pray that you take some time to SLOW DOWN!

Rev Trev