Verse
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people.'" Exodus 31:12-14 NIV
Thought
It is very easy to believe that the more one works the more money one makes. But the reality is that without proper rest and reflection, ones work can become quite stale and nonproductive. There is value in taking breaks, resting and getting away from the pursuit of more. The sooner we learn that the better we will be.
This is such an important concept that God actually described Creation as having included a day for God to rest. Why would God rest when God does not get tired? It seems that God wanted to set this idea of resting into motion at the very beginning of time but being the Divine example of taking time off from work. A better understanding of what God did might be reflection. That is what the sabbath invites us to do. reflect upon the accomplishments of the previous week - reflect upon the blessings that we otherwise may take for granted - reflect upon the things that exist now that did not exist last time we reflected. That is what God did on God's Sabbath.
This is impossible to do if we are addicted to our work, driven by our work or defined by our work. But if we are living lives that amount to more than our work and if our goals are broader than our finances, we will enjoy many Sabbaths and use them to replenish our mental, emotional and spiritual selves. And we may include having some fun!
The quality of our lives will be determined more by the time we take to rest from our work than it will the time we spend doing our work. get some rest. God takes it very seriously.
Prayer
"God, help me to shut down more often and to rest from my labor on a regular basis. Amen."
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