"And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3: 11
"Alright then! The Lord Himself will give you a sign. Look, the virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us')" Isaiah 7: 14
"My mercy and justice are coming soon. My salvation is on the way. My strong arm will bring justice to the nations. All the distant lands will look to me and wait in hope for my powerful arm." Isaiah 51: 5
"In the beginning, the Word already existed. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God, and nothing was created except through Him... So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only son." John 1: 1-3, 14
"And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born,. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped Him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them." Luke 2: 6 - 7
"Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby's mother, 'This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but He will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose Him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul." Luke 2: 34 - 35
"But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole, He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's path to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all." Isaiah 53: 5 - 6
" 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why are you standing here staring into Heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday He will return from heaven in the same way you saw Him go." Acts 1: 11
" 'Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." Revelation 22: 12 - 13
The Incarnation... it is the great mystery of the ages.
The God become Man. The God-Man Babe who was the God-Man Sacrifice who is the Priest King of Heaven.
Seriously, it blows my mind.
That God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth should stoop down to become a human. To be born as a squalling little baby, in a stable, in a backwater town of a backwater region of the Roman Empire.
In order to save me and anyone else who accepts it from Hell.
Wow. Wow. Wow. WOW! And have I mentioned: "WOW!!"?
The assistant minister said it last night. He said it clear for all to hear. That first Christmas was the Dawn of a new Day of Grace.
And it was true.
That First Christmas began the life that fulfilled promises that reached back into the mists of time.
It was the day on which GOD lovingly condescended to become one of us, His broken, defiled creation, so that He could reach us and save us because He knew we could not reach Him or save ourselves.
It was a life of sacrifice right from the start.
The one child who could choose where He wanted to be born and who His family would be, chose a carpenter as His father, a virgin as His mother, a stable as His birthing place and a manger as His first resting place.
The only words I can think are "this blows my mind".
Because I know I don't deserve it.
I don't deserve that kind of Love and Grace.
And I have yet to meet someone who can convince me that they do.
But that's the Miracle of Grace, the Gift of Christmas.
We don't deserve God's love. We don't deserve His Grace. We don't deserve His Mercy. But He stooped down and gives it to us anyway.
No wonder He is Exalted.
No wonder the angels sang His praises, and the magi travelled far to meet Him.
What a mind-boggling, brain-bending, heart stopping truth.
So, today, Christmas Day, I give whole hearted thanks for that Child, for that Man. Because He is my Everything, and I can't do it without Him.
Happy Remembrance of Jesus' Birth Day everyone.
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
Thanksgiving #2 - Family
My heart is extremely heavy this Christmas Eve.
There is a weight that sits on it, pressing down. There have been moments when I have found it hard to breathe through the pain. And I have been driven to my knees, both metaphorically and literally.
And, despite the pain, or perhaps because of the pain, I realize how grateful I am for my parents and sisters.
This world is so broken. I just can't avoid it. Not this year, and I doubt I will ever be able to again.
I sit in church and a friend talks about the brother who has just had a major row with his family.
I scroll down my newsfeed, and I see the posts from the girl whose mother died only a month ago and whose boyfriend left her pregnant. She mourns the loss of both those people, and knows that Christmas just won't be the same this year.
I sit at my kitchen table writing and hear my parents tell us that our uncle and his wife have split up. That makes the third couple out of five from that generation to break up... and the second this year.
I walk outside and hear the neighbours arguing. An affair, a heartbreak, a desire to end the marriage.
I think of people around the world on Christmas, and can think only of those being sexually abused for money, meeting in secret to worship, dying by the thousands from hunger and starvation.
My heart is thudding in my chest. It hurts. It hurts so badly.
Then I look around my home. At my parents, at my sisters, and my heart whispers thank you.
Thank you that my parents are still together, still love each other.
Thank you that I can count my sisters among my best friends.
Thank you that my family is still together, and unlikely to break apart.
Because it's not through anything we've done. We've said no spell, hit upon no secret for the perfect home.
We argue, we disrespect, we hurt each other. It all happens.
But we are united by something deeper than our own sinfulness. The Love of God and the shared knowledge and understanding of what Christmas is all about. The God-become-Man who brought us Grace beyond measure.
He is at the centre of our lives, and He holds us all together.
And I am so very, very grateful.
There is a weight that sits on it, pressing down. There have been moments when I have found it hard to breathe through the pain. And I have been driven to my knees, both metaphorically and literally.
And, despite the pain, or perhaps because of the pain, I realize how grateful I am for my parents and sisters.
This world is so broken. I just can't avoid it. Not this year, and I doubt I will ever be able to again.
I sit in church and a friend talks about the brother who has just had a major row with his family.
I scroll down my newsfeed, and I see the posts from the girl whose mother died only a month ago and whose boyfriend left her pregnant. She mourns the loss of both those people, and knows that Christmas just won't be the same this year.
I sit at my kitchen table writing and hear my parents tell us that our uncle and his wife have split up. That makes the third couple out of five from that generation to break up... and the second this year.
I walk outside and hear the neighbours arguing. An affair, a heartbreak, a desire to end the marriage.
I think of people around the world on Christmas, and can think only of those being sexually abused for money, meeting in secret to worship, dying by the thousands from hunger and starvation.
My heart is thudding in my chest. It hurts. It hurts so badly.
Then I look around my home. At my parents, at my sisters, and my heart whispers thank you.
Thank you that my parents are still together, still love each other.
Thank you that I can count my sisters among my best friends.
Thank you that my family is still together, and unlikely to break apart.
Because it's not through anything we've done. We've said no spell, hit upon no secret for the perfect home.
We argue, we disrespect, we hurt each other. It all happens.
But we are united by something deeper than our own sinfulness. The Love of God and the shared knowledge and understanding of what Christmas is all about. The God-become-Man who brought us Grace beyond measure.
He is at the centre of our lives, and He holds us all together.
And I am so very, very grateful.
Sunday, 22 December 2013
Thanksgiving #4 - TV shows
Hey everyone,
So sorry that I haven't really been writing here. I've been spending the past few weeks as far away as possible from social media. I really needed the break.
But, I'm back, and I'll be trying to write one everyday between now and Christmas (all 4 days of them).
This may seem slightly strange, but today I am thanking God for TV shows. Over the past couple of weeks, I've spent a lot of time watching through some awesome scifi shows (yes, I am a nerd!). And I have been absolutely loving it.
The stories have been firing my imaginations, giving me questions to think about and have been allowing me to relax. So, I thank God for them and for the creativity He has blessed us with to create such shows.
So sorry that I haven't really been writing here. I've been spending the past few weeks as far away as possible from social media. I really needed the break.
But, I'm back, and I'll be trying to write one everyday between now and Christmas (all 4 days of them).
This may seem slightly strange, but today I am thanking God for TV shows. Over the past couple of weeks, I've spent a lot of time watching through some awesome scifi shows (yes, I am a nerd!). And I have been absolutely loving it.
The stories have been firing my imaginations, giving me questions to think about and have been allowing me to relax. So, I thank God for them and for the creativity He has blessed us with to create such shows.
Friday, 13 December 2013
Thanksgiving #13 - The Simple and Unexpected
We were strolling down the main path of Hyde Park, chatting about the trees and bagpipes, when she exclaimed "I love this guy!"
Startled, I looked around, not sure whom she was talking about. Then I saw him too.
He stood on the path holding a loop of string attached to two sticks. He dipped the string in a bucket and pulled it up. Moving with ease and confidence, he stretched open the string, using the sticks. The wind caught the liquid suspended in the loop and blew it out. It formed a bubble, a translucent sheet of dancing colour.
He moved to place this broad billowing sheet over the head of a young boy who whimpered and pressed closer to the woman beside him. She and the man chuckled and the man re-dipped the string in the bucket.
Again, a billowing tunnel of colour formed in the air. He took it over to a young girl who stuck her head into it, giggling the way only a child can. Her siblings, who stood beside her, giggled too.
Then the man grasped who looked almost like a solid plastic net out of a shallow bowl and twirled it through the air.
Hundreds of paper thin spheres of colour came bursting out. Caught by the wind, they danced along merrily as a little boy laughed and chased them, hands outstretched to catch them.
Soon, we moved away, having laughed and been delighted. I murmured to my friend, feeling a deep contentment, "that'll be appearing on my blog". She asked why and I answered.
It's sometimes, always, the simple things in life that bring us the most joy. So often, we over-complicate life, we look for joy in the complex things. And yet... it's the simple things - bubbles on the wind in the park, the laugh of a child, an avenue of trees - that bring us the sweetest moments of joy. That curve our lips in the softest of smiles and bring a glow to our eyes.
She smiled her agreement "and the surprising things, the unexpected things."
I nodded and we continued on our walk, chatting easily until we reached our destination.
The moment we stepped through the door a hush descended. Not an awkward hush, not even a companionable hush, but a reverent hush.
The towering ceiling supported by carved dark wood rafters, sandstone walls that glowed in the yellow sunlight, stain glass windows with familiar scenes - the maji, the babe and other storie s from the incredible life of that one pure man who lived and died 2000 and years ago, and who continues to live today.
We sat, two young woman who love the Lord, on the pews of that cathedral, our eyes caught up by the beauty of the building and our minds and hearts wondering at, worshipping, the glory and graciousness of the God the building was built to glorify.
The silence was not suffocating, it was releasing. We sat, our own thoughts wondering, occasionally whispering to each other, sharing some thought to ponder.
How incredible is our God, we both agreed.
And even after we'd left the building, it took a few minutes for the us to stop whispering and speak in normal voices. We strolled around the city, sipping cool drinks and trying not to feel the heat. We chatted, mostly theology, sometimes life, until I boarded my train.
We hugged good-bye and I couldn't help but think how grateful I am. How thank I am for the simple and unexpected, and, at that moment, most of all, the friend who was vanishing up the steps to her own platform.
An, as I sat down and started to write, I realized writing was no longer a struggle. I wasn't feeling like I had to rack my brains in search of a thanksgiving point to write on.
God's grace had, once again, found me, through no work of my own, and had left me silenced, but brimming with joy and thanksgiving.
And the words, they almost wrote themselves.
Thank you, Father. My heart needed this little gift of yours!
Startled, I looked around, not sure whom she was talking about. Then I saw him too.
He stood on the path holding a loop of string attached to two sticks. He dipped the string in a bucket and pulled it up. Moving with ease and confidence, he stretched open the string, using the sticks. The wind caught the liquid suspended in the loop and blew it out. It formed a bubble, a translucent sheet of dancing colour.
He moved to place this broad billowing sheet over the head of a young boy who whimpered and pressed closer to the woman beside him. She and the man chuckled and the man re-dipped the string in the bucket.
Again, a billowing tunnel of colour formed in the air. He took it over to a young girl who stuck her head into it, giggling the way only a child can. Her siblings, who stood beside her, giggled too.
Then the man grasped who looked almost like a solid plastic net out of a shallow bowl and twirled it through the air.
Hundreds of paper thin spheres of colour came bursting out. Caught by the wind, they danced along merrily as a little boy laughed and chased them, hands outstretched to catch them.
Soon, we moved away, having laughed and been delighted. I murmured to my friend, feeling a deep contentment, "that'll be appearing on my blog". She asked why and I answered.
It's sometimes, always, the simple things in life that bring us the most joy. So often, we over-complicate life, we look for joy in the complex things. And yet... it's the simple things - bubbles on the wind in the park, the laugh of a child, an avenue of trees - that bring us the sweetest moments of joy. That curve our lips in the softest of smiles and bring a glow to our eyes.
She smiled her agreement "and the surprising things, the unexpected things."
I nodded and we continued on our walk, chatting easily until we reached our destination.
The moment we stepped through the door a hush descended. Not an awkward hush, not even a companionable hush, but a reverent hush.
The towering ceiling supported by carved dark wood rafters, sandstone walls that glowed in the yellow sunlight, stain glass windows with familiar scenes - the maji, the babe and other storie s from the incredible life of that one pure man who lived and died 2000 and years ago, and who continues to live today.
We sat, two young woman who love the Lord, on the pews of that cathedral, our eyes caught up by the beauty of the building and our minds and hearts wondering at, worshipping, the glory and graciousness of the God the building was built to glorify.
The silence was not suffocating, it was releasing. We sat, our own thoughts wondering, occasionally whispering to each other, sharing some thought to ponder.
How incredible is our God, we both agreed.
And even after we'd left the building, it took a few minutes for the us to stop whispering and speak in normal voices. We strolled around the city, sipping cool drinks and trying not to feel the heat. We chatted, mostly theology, sometimes life, until I boarded my train.
We hugged good-bye and I couldn't help but think how grateful I am. How thank I am for the simple and unexpected, and, at that moment, most of all, the friend who was vanishing up the steps to her own platform.
An, as I sat down and started to write, I realized writing was no longer a struggle. I wasn't feeling like I had to rack my brains in search of a thanksgiving point to write on.
God's grace had, once again, found me, through no work of my own, and had left me silenced, but brimming with joy and thanksgiving.
And the words, they almost wrote themselves.
Thank you, Father. My heart needed this little gift of yours!
Friday, 22 November 2013
A Special Guest (and then Thanksgiving point #34)
Ummm, well,
Hello *taps on microphone* Is this thing on? You might be thinking. .
"wait this isn't actually our normal amazing author!? Who is this
deviously charming but ugly imposer? Have you kidnapped our usual author for
use in your dastardly plans to take over the southern hemisphere?!"
The answers to your questions are: “Yes”, “Explained later”,
and “Absolutely”.
Well 'ello, My name is *Actual name blocked for due to US
gov shutdown* But you can call me Scooper. See me, and the author of this blog, are good
friends (at least I hope so, but after this post we shall see ) But the thing is, me and author have only actually had three conversations in
real life. In fact, the first time I had the pleasure of conversing with that
wonderful creature, I killed her.
Let’s face it, she had it coming.
The other two conversations regarded her relationship with
an empty fireplace (and a full head), and why she was not participating in
rhythmic body movements in a crowded room full of absolutely crazy people all
dancing (or at least that's what I hope it was) to the Black Keys's song,
lonely boy. All in all, not many of those conversations lasted more than a
couple sentences.
But somehow, she is one the closest human beings I have the
pleasure of calling friend.
"Hold up, hold up" you’re thinking, "how on
earth did this crazy manic weirdo stalker who is clearly fanaticizing on a made
up relationship with our amazing author, hack onto this blog to post this
creepy obsession" Now , now, dear reader. First, I deny being a stalker.
Also I do think I have good reason to pretend to be a good friend to the
author. And that reason is the internet.
See, me and the author have been chatting using Facebook
primary, sometimes Skype too, (not as often as I would have liked) for little
over a year now. We have seen each other
though some of the worst ups and downs in that short period. I have been with
her during her minor missteps, and she has been with me though my many, many,
many emotional hissy fits. Then promptly slapped me out of some of them, and
cheered me up though the rest. We know
each other well, (sometimes I think too well) and have a very good grasp of
each other's weak points and (in my case) more weak points. And that's amazing.
Think about it, we are so amazing that we can have deep,
meaningful relationships with people thousands of miles away, that, instantly,
we can communicate and talk to these people. I talk to the author nearly every
day, it's an odd day when we don't converse. She has become an necessary part of my day, and one of my dearest of
friends. It really makes me wonder about what is the basis of friendship? It
can't be presence, it's not hugs (as nice as they are), I suspect it's not even
words, but connection. What an amazing
and wonderful world we live in. Aren't we blessed, it blows my mind.
It's amazing then, that friendship, deep meaningful,
friendship can come from pixels?
And isn't it Ironic, that one of the closest friends I have,
lives that farthermost from me?
the always annoying
but hopefully entertaining,
Scooper.
Hello everyone, normal author back here! Just want to pop in with my thanksgiving point for today, which is precisely that which Scooper is talking about. For the friendships that the internet enables us to have, most particular this friendship. I have been very blessed through this friendship and am grateful God provided the internet that has enabled it to happen.
So, with Christmas on the 34th day from now, I give thanks for friendship and the care that God takes of me through them.
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Thanksgiving # 36 - The end of exams!
So... I'm back!
I, unfortunately, missed the past couple of days. My mind has been focused on finishing my last two exams and now... I'M DONE!
Completely done.
IB no more!
It was an absolutely incredible feeling to walk out of the exam room for the last time.
It will be a less incredible feeling when I sign out next week, but, in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the fact that I don't have to worry about school work any more.
I'm so grateful for the past 15 years of education, I'm also very grateful for the fact that I now get a break!
I'm grateful for the people who have come, some to leave again, others to stay (for a while at least) during those years.
I'm grateful for all the opportunities of growth I have had.
I'm grateful for the couple of hours I spent chilling with my friends after we finished our exams. I'm grateful for the awesome "yay! you're finished" gift I got from my parents - 9 Star Trek movies (completing my Star Trek movie collection) and one season of DS9 (also Star Trek). I am very thankful for the great food my family and I just ate in celebration!
And, most of all, I'm so grateful to God for bringing me through these past years and for the plans He has for my future.
I'm so excited for them! Please stick around as I learn new lessons, fumble things up and learn to love God more and more.
Are you all ready? Let's roll!
I, unfortunately, missed the past couple of days. My mind has been focused on finishing my last two exams and now... I'M DONE!
Completely done.
IB no more!
It was an absolutely incredible feeling to walk out of the exam room for the last time.
It will be a less incredible feeling when I sign out next week, but, in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the fact that I don't have to worry about school work any more.
I'm so grateful for the past 15 years of education, I'm also very grateful for the fact that I now get a break!
I'm grateful for the people who have come, some to leave again, others to stay (for a while at least) during those years.
I'm grateful for all the opportunities of growth I have had.
I'm grateful for the couple of hours I spent chilling with my friends after we finished our exams. I'm grateful for the awesome "yay! you're finished" gift I got from my parents - 9 Star Trek movies (completing my Star Trek movie collection) and one season of DS9 (also Star Trek). I am very thankful for the great food my family and I just ate in celebration!
And, most of all, I'm so grateful to God for bringing me through these past years and for the plans He has for my future.
I'm so excited for them! Please stick around as I learn new lessons, fumble things up and learn to love God more and more.
Are you all ready? Let's roll!
Sunday, 17 November 2013
Thanksgiving #39 - Lazy Days and Games' Nights (a Sabbath day)
Yesterday, I had a lazy day.
My first real lazy day in a long time.
And it felt good.
It felt very, very good.
Admittedly, in the morning it was kind of forced on me due to me not feeling very well, but it was still very good.
Essentially, I spent the majority of my day lying on the sofa wrapped in my bedding and watching through Once Upon a Time with my sister. And not feeling guilty about it because I've only got 2 exams (one subject) left to go, and half a week to study for it.
In the evening, after dinner, I headed to church with the sister, where "just one hour" turned into three and a half hours of board games, laughter, chatting and cleaning with some friends.
Yesterday was, not just lazy, but relaxing.
And it has been obvious to all today, that I am much more relaxed than I have been. So many people have commented that I'm walking taller and look like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
I feel so much readier to face my day than I have been for a while. I wasn't intending to get up until 8, but at 7:24 I was up and ready to go.
Oh, the difference that taking a day off can make!
And this has been something that keeps coming up. This concept of "taking a break".
It's so easy not to do that. So easy to keep on going. Because, you know what? It's never finished.
The To-do list never gets shorter. Ever.
The world never slows down.
If anything, it just speeds up.
And up. And up.
And, I think I've spoken about this before, but it was pointed out to me, and I have since pointed it out to others.
So often we think that taking a break is selfish.
That just stopping and saying "no" to others is self-serving and unloving.
But... God commands us to take a rest.
I'll repeat that: God commands us to take a rest.
It isn't a mild suggestion. It isn't a "well... if you really must... but it would be so much better if you could..."
It is a command.
The Sabbath day... so many times He orders us to keep it Holy. It can even be found on the 10 Commandments.
Go, take a look. It's right there. Exodus chapter 20. Verse number 8. The fourth command: "remember the Sabbath day by keeping it Holy."
Now, I want to make myself very clear, I am by no means advocating doing no work at all. The Bible makes it so clear that laziness leads, quite rightfully, to ruin. It is dishonouring to God and foolish way to live.
But keeping the Sabbath honours God. Not just by the fact that you are taking a break, but by the work ethic and routine it helps us establish and maintain.
Look at Exodus 20: 9 - 10.
"Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God."
Six days of work, than a day of rest so that you can be ready and able to do the next six days.
Is taking a rest selfish? No!
In fact, I would say that not taking the rest is selfish.
Seriously. What motivates someone to keep going?
A guilty conscience. We keep working because we don't like that sense of guilt, that feeling of "but it's going to keep piling up on me, I'm just going to have more to do later if I stop now." You get the picture?
We aren't really motivated by a desire to serve and love. We are motivated by the thought that it will be worse if we don't. Well, at least, that's the case for me.
So we push ourselves until the bags under ours eyes reach the floor, our bodies give way, and our emotions fly out all over the place, and start to maim and hurt other people.
Real loving thing, huh?
But resting... well, I've found it is not only easier, but also much more natural for me to reach out to others and see how they are doing. I can spend longer hours caring for the needs of other. But only after I've rested.
And do you know how important this Sabbath is to the Lord?
Important enough that the commands He gives Israel regarding farming and the care of the land also followed this pattern. For 6 years they were to grow crops and work the land. On the seventh year, they were to eat stored grain and leave the land alone. The land was to have a Sabbath every seventh year. And this was important enough that God punished them for not doing it by exiling them. It wasn't the only sin they were being punished for, but in Isaiah, it is mentioned multiple times, and He mentions it in the second half of Leviticus 26.
Important enough that the commands He gave Israel regarding the treatment of slaves a servants also followed this pattern. For 6 years a bondservant (slave) served their master, and on the seventh year they were freed, unless they chose to stay.
Yep. It's important.
But do you know what else the Exodus passage tells us about the Sabbath?
Well, it gives us an example, a model to follow, if you will. Which is this: "For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (v 11)
Did you get that?
God doesn't just command a day of rest. He took one Himself. He built this pattern around what He Himself did.
I think that's a pretty good reason to be able to take a rest.
But, more than that, there's an even greater reason why we should do this.
All of God's Laws were laid down in order to set Israel apart. To bring God honour. To show the world that Israel served a Holy God.
Well, we still serve that same Holy God.
Shouldn't we be setting ourselves apart by following, to the best of our abilities, that pattern? That pattern of six days work and one day rest a week.
By being purposeful about taking time out to rest, to worship.
If you think about it, people in this world either over-rest and under-work, or they under-rest and over-work.
Be different. Make sure you get enough rest to do enough work to the best of your ability to the Glory of God.
Not so that you can do better, but so that God can do better through you.
Not so that you can be seen as great, but so that God can be seen as what He is: HOLY.
So, my thanksgiving point: I am grateful for rest, I am grateful that my God cares about my rest. And I am grateful for the day of rest I got yesterday.
My first real lazy day in a long time.
And it felt good.
It felt very, very good.
Admittedly, in the morning it was kind of forced on me due to me not feeling very well, but it was still very good.
Essentially, I spent the majority of my day lying on the sofa wrapped in my bedding and watching through Once Upon a Time with my sister. And not feeling guilty about it because I've only got 2 exams (one subject) left to go, and half a week to study for it.
In the evening, after dinner, I headed to church with the sister, where "just one hour" turned into three and a half hours of board games, laughter, chatting and cleaning with some friends.
Yesterday was, not just lazy, but relaxing.
And it has been obvious to all today, that I am much more relaxed than I have been. So many people have commented that I'm walking taller and look like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
I feel so much readier to face my day than I have been for a while. I wasn't intending to get up until 8, but at 7:24 I was up and ready to go.
Oh, the difference that taking a day off can make!
And this has been something that keeps coming up. This concept of "taking a break".
It's so easy not to do that. So easy to keep on going. Because, you know what? It's never finished.
The To-do list never gets shorter. Ever.
The world never slows down.
If anything, it just speeds up.
And up. And up.
And, I think I've spoken about this before, but it was pointed out to me, and I have since pointed it out to others.
So often we think that taking a break is selfish.
That just stopping and saying "no" to others is self-serving and unloving.
But... God commands us to take a rest.
I'll repeat that: God commands us to take a rest.
It isn't a mild suggestion. It isn't a "well... if you really must... but it would be so much better if you could..."
It is a command.
The Sabbath day... so many times He orders us to keep it Holy. It can even be found on the 10 Commandments.
Go, take a look. It's right there. Exodus chapter 20. Verse number 8. The fourth command: "remember the Sabbath day by keeping it Holy."
Now, I want to make myself very clear, I am by no means advocating doing no work at all. The Bible makes it so clear that laziness leads, quite rightfully, to ruin. It is dishonouring to God and foolish way to live.
But keeping the Sabbath honours God. Not just by the fact that you are taking a break, but by the work ethic and routine it helps us establish and maintain.
Look at Exodus 20: 9 - 10.
"Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God."
Six days of work, than a day of rest so that you can be ready and able to do the next six days.
Is taking a rest selfish? No!
In fact, I would say that not taking the rest is selfish.
Seriously. What motivates someone to keep going?
A guilty conscience. We keep working because we don't like that sense of guilt, that feeling of "but it's going to keep piling up on me, I'm just going to have more to do later if I stop now." You get the picture?
We aren't really motivated by a desire to serve and love. We are motivated by the thought that it will be worse if we don't. Well, at least, that's the case for me.
So we push ourselves until the bags under ours eyes reach the floor, our bodies give way, and our emotions fly out all over the place, and start to maim and hurt other people.
Real loving thing, huh?
But resting... well, I've found it is not only easier, but also much more natural for me to reach out to others and see how they are doing. I can spend longer hours caring for the needs of other. But only after I've rested.
And do you know how important this Sabbath is to the Lord?
Important enough that the commands He gives Israel regarding farming and the care of the land also followed this pattern. For 6 years they were to grow crops and work the land. On the seventh year, they were to eat stored grain and leave the land alone. The land was to have a Sabbath every seventh year. And this was important enough that God punished them for not doing it by exiling them. It wasn't the only sin they were being punished for, but in Isaiah, it is mentioned multiple times, and He mentions it in the second half of Leviticus 26.
Important enough that the commands He gave Israel regarding the treatment of slaves a servants also followed this pattern. For 6 years a bondservant (slave) served their master, and on the seventh year they were freed, unless they chose to stay.
Yep. It's important.
But do you know what else the Exodus passage tells us about the Sabbath?
Well, it gives us an example, a model to follow, if you will. Which is this: "For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (v 11)
Did you get that?
God doesn't just command a day of rest. He took one Himself. He built this pattern around what He Himself did.
I think that's a pretty good reason to be able to take a rest.
But, more than that, there's an even greater reason why we should do this.
All of God's Laws were laid down in order to set Israel apart. To bring God honour. To show the world that Israel served a Holy God.
Well, we still serve that same Holy God.
Shouldn't we be setting ourselves apart by following, to the best of our abilities, that pattern? That pattern of six days work and one day rest a week.
By being purposeful about taking time out to rest, to worship.
If you think about it, people in this world either over-rest and under-work, or they under-rest and over-work.
Be different. Make sure you get enough rest to do enough work to the best of your ability to the Glory of God.
Not so that you can do better, but so that God can do better through you.
Not so that you can be seen as great, but so that God can be seen as what He is: HOLY.
So, my thanksgiving point: I am grateful for rest, I am grateful that my God cares about my rest. And I am grateful for the day of rest I got yesterday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)