The Need for Rest
So far this year I have been using the Bible CD's to read through the Bible. It is a lot different for me, especially on the passages with which I am very familiar. Instead of seeing all of the details, I am seeing the big picture. I think that will help me more and more as I get used to it.
One thing that I can't get out of my mind is from Genesis 2. God rested. I knew that. I knew about how He established the Sabbath day as a day of rest. The thing that got me this time was that God decided to rest Himself. Why did God decide to rest? He is All-Powerful. He never sleeps. He doesn't need anything. Could it be that there is a purpose for rest, even for God? I think that is it.
Even God needs to finish His work and take a break sometimes. Even God needs to step back and look at what He has done. This is not in the sense that He needs something, but in the sense that it is a good thing to do. We all need a time of rest each day in which we evaluate what we have done. We all need a time of rest each week, when we look at what we have done. We need to take a break and make sure we are headed in the right direction.
The main thing about rest, though, is that we don't need to be so busy that everything runs together. That is bad for us. I heard a message by Andy Stanley in which he said that we all need margin in our lives. Margin is extra time, extra money, extra energy. If we don't have margin, we burn out because of stress, and we miss out on relationships. Relationships take place in margin. Think about it. If you are too tired, you don't want to relate to someone else. If you are too stressed about money, you don't want to go somewhere with someone else. If you do not have margin, relationships suffer. This goes for family, too. Therefore, we all need to build rest into our lives, so we have margin, and we can have healthy relationships.
Of course, I know that there are some folks who do not do enough. They are bored with life. They do just what they want to do, and they do not choose to include others in their lives. It is too much trouble. That is very bad, too. Everyone needs to take time for the Lord and others, no matter our age or situation in life. In fact, once we do spend time with the Lord, He will lead us to reach out and include others in our lives. That is how He works. He doesn't want us to be too busy, but He doesn't want us to be lazy and detached either. Let's make sure our lives have the right amount of rest and effort to be fruitful for Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 13-15 and Matthew 5:1-26.
One thing that I can't get out of my mind is from Genesis 2. God rested. I knew that. I knew about how He established the Sabbath day as a day of rest. The thing that got me this time was that God decided to rest Himself. Why did God decide to rest? He is All-Powerful. He never sleeps. He doesn't need anything. Could it be that there is a purpose for rest, even for God? I think that is it.
Even God needs to finish His work and take a break sometimes. Even God needs to step back and look at what He has done. This is not in the sense that He needs something, but in the sense that it is a good thing to do. We all need a time of rest each day in which we evaluate what we have done. We all need a time of rest each week, when we look at what we have done. We need to take a break and make sure we are headed in the right direction.
The main thing about rest, though, is that we don't need to be so busy that everything runs together. That is bad for us. I heard a message by Andy Stanley in which he said that we all need margin in our lives. Margin is extra time, extra money, extra energy. If we don't have margin, we burn out because of stress, and we miss out on relationships. Relationships take place in margin. Think about it. If you are too tired, you don't want to relate to someone else. If you are too stressed about money, you don't want to go somewhere with someone else. If you do not have margin, relationships suffer. This goes for family, too. Therefore, we all need to build rest into our lives, so we have margin, and we can have healthy relationships.
Of course, I know that there are some folks who do not do enough. They are bored with life. They do just what they want to do, and they do not choose to include others in their lives. It is too much trouble. That is very bad, too. Everyone needs to take time for the Lord and others, no matter our age or situation in life. In fact, once we do spend time with the Lord, He will lead us to reach out and include others in our lives. That is how He works. He doesn't want us to be too busy, but He doesn't want us to be lazy and detached either. Let's make sure our lives have the right amount of rest and effort to be fruitful for Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 13-15 and Matthew 5:1-26.