Sabbat Rest

Back in the 90s, an author by the name of Tim Kimmel wrote a book entitled, "Little House on The Freeway."  He spoke of the frantic nature in which we live our busy lives, running here and there, keeping this appointment and that, shuttling kids from one event to another.  He painted the picture of the harried American doing everything but taking time to rest, relax and retreat from the demands of modern life.

When I was a small boy in the 50s, it was assumed that all the labor saving devices being invented would save us so much time and effort that by the end of the century we would be doing very little actual work, saving so much time that we would have trouble finding enough to do.  I heard of the possibility of a 10 hour work week. Of course, if you averaged out the time congress is actually at work, they might have achieved that, but certainly not the working or business class America.

What seems to have happened is that we must work more in order to pay for our labor saving devices. And, wanting so much more for our children, we become indebted taxi drivers, paying for all the extra-curricular activities while shuttling them from one to another. The Little House on The Prairie has indeed become The Little House on The Freeway.

Between our jobs our, families and our community involvement, insuring a day of rest such as the biblical Sabbath just doesn't seem possible. When I was a kid, virtually everything was closed on Sunday. Today it is a major shopping day, so the retail world is busy serving the 9 to 5 workers filling the stores on Sunday, having spent Saturday doing all the things they couldn't get to Mon-Fri.

And yet, our souls long for rest. We are strung out, wrung out and hung out to dry. We need a Sabbath rest, just as God intended. The Lord himself worked six days creating the world and then he rested (Gen 2:1-3). I don't believe he rested because he was tuckered out, I believe he rested in order to reflect on and enjoy the work of his creation, I believe God took some down time in order to lift up his handiwork, allowing it to fill his soul.

Do you ever take the time to rest and reflect on what you have accomplished or are you always on to the next thing?  Do you find time just to enjoy your home and family - you know the reason you work so hard?  Do you take time to rest in the Lord, reflecting on his blessings?  Do you ever find time for a sabbath rest so that your soul can be restored and nourished?  "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, e just as God did from his" (Heb 4:9-10).  Jus' Say'n.