This weekend, Janet and I have just been kicking back and taking it easy. I can’t say that we haven’t done anything – but things have been hectic around here and I think we are just out of gas. We did the shopping at the grocery store, picked up some fresh fruit at the local farm stand, dropped off a gift to Kristin for her birthday (our present arrived late) and watched some reruns of the West Wing – one of our favorite series. Oh, and I fed the birds, a chore that I have done on Saturday mornings for many years. In fact, all of those things were accomplished yesterday – at a snail’s pace.
Today, we did even less… Janet’s sciatica is acting up again and we will be calling for another appointment to see what steps are next – probably another spinal injection. But it’s not just her – I’m beat as well. We even decided to stream church rather than go in person. We listened to our own service and then switched over to Kristin’s church to hear her sermon and the music, etc. It’s always a blessing to hear the organ they have – I miss that in more contemporary worship environments.
Anyway, we are sitting here on the back patio, listening to our fountain gently gurgling in the background. Beyond that, I hear the (and smell) the smoker cooking the meat loaf that I am preparing for the family this evening. Every so often, we will decide to cook something for whoever wants to participate and tonight is one of those nights. No, we aren’t entertaining everyone. It’s more like a drive by pick-up.
Eva, our black lab puppy, is laying at my feet, Janet is napping in the chair next to me and all is right with the world, at least for the time being. I honestly can’t remember the last time we just kicked back and didn’t worry about getting stuff done. It’s cathartic – and it’s biblical!
We are clearly told that we are to celebrate a Sabbath. I’m pretty bad at that. Even in semi-retirement, I feel lazy and unproductive if I’m not learning something or accomplishing something. And if I am brutally honest, I am so busy during the week that it’s a miracle that I could even learn a living to pay the bills – let alone have the ability to retire should Janet and I decide that is the next step…
The Sabbath doesn’t have to be on a Sunday, by the way. It can be any day of the week that you choose. The issue is that we should all set aside a day of the week, completed dedicated to worship of the Lord and to not be distracted by chores or anything else that disturbs our peace…
I had forgotten how wonderful this feeling is. To be sure, usually at one time or another, we are all guilty of failing to celebrate the Sabbath. But it really is something that helps to rejuvenate us. Even God, who created the world in six days, rested on the seventh day.
I say that, but there is even a controversy as to whether the world was created in six days or seven days. The creation story says that on the seventh day, God rested. However, there are those who believe that in the ancient Jewish culture the verse really says that God worked on the seventh day, but that “work” was to “rest.”
I think we are making too much out of this difference of opinion, so I am going with the six days of work and then a day of rest… Our verse for tonight highlights this very verse from Genesis. Moses, the author of Genesis, tells us, in Genesis 2:1-3, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
So God spoke the world, and everything in it, into existence. And please note that God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. That’s an important little tidbit for us… My encouragement is that we were made in the image of God and told to have rest. My prayer is that we may be more mindful of God’s desire for us to have a day of rest to honor Him and carry on the work of His kingdom. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…