Exodus 23:12
“Work six days only, and rest the
seventh; this is to give your oxen and donkeys a rest, as well as the
people of your household—your slaves and visitors."
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
Recently I joined a water
aerobics class at our community’s Aquatic Center. The class met Monday,
Wednesday and Friday mornings at eight o’clock. Anyone who knows me
very well knows that especially in recent years, I am anything BUT a
morning person. 9:00 a.m. is EARLY for me! So making the commitment to
be “up and at ‘em” - and ready to get into a pool of chilly water at
8:00 a.m. - was really a stretch for me. But I did it - for a few
weeks. I’m also something of a “night owl”. Try as I might to get to
bed earlier, I found myself thinking, “I’ll try to fit in an afternoon
nap,” or “I’ll make up for lost sleep on Tuesdays and Thursday
mornings.” But my body began to adjust to the early morning wake-up
time, and I found myself unable to sleep an extra hour or two on those
“days off” from swimming!
I finally realized that this class
was just not working for me…for a number of reasons. I made a few trips
to the pool to work out on my own – at later daytime hours – and I
found that I was a much happier camper. So I opted to drop the class
and commit to an individual workout program at a more convenient time.
In doing so, I discovered just how tired I had become, when one evening
last week I could not hold my eyes open for very long past the 8:00
hour! I went to bed early – and slept LATE the next morning. Clearly, I
was in need of some rest! And that’s what this scripture in Exodus
seems to be reminding us today…that rest is important – for everyone!
Now
believe me, I know that there are extenuating circumstances. As the
sole employees of a small business, Greg and I used to work at least
several hours of EVERY single day…and we did this for eighteen years.
There was always work to be done, and we were the only ones who could do
much of it! So we worked through holidays, anniversaries, weekends and
much more. And yes, we grew weary. As much as this is often
unavoidable in many situations, I think we need to listen to God’s
admonition to rest when and where we can.
I’m not suggesting that
we all become slackers. There is a delicate balance to maintain. But
so many of us have filled every minute of our day with some kind of
activity, and we have made these far more important than just taking
time to sit, rest, relax, breathe in and out, maybe say a prayer or two,
and simply renew our minds and our souls. In other words, a lot of us
need to clear out the clutter! I’d say that if you cannot find a way to
rest every six days or so – at least for a part of the day – this
scripture applies to you! There may be a season of extenuating
circumstances. You may be caring for someone who is ill, or working on a
major project for several weeks. But over the long haul, everyone
needs to make sure that they get enough rest…and this is ordained by
GOD!
Today as I worked out at the pool, I watched two young
children who were playing in the shallow end…apparently a brother and
sister. Two women who I surmised to be their mother and grandmother
settled into chairs along the wall of windows. The younger woman took
out her phone and began to scroll through messages or something. The
older woman read a flyer. A man arrived who must have been the
children’s dad. He settled himself in the corner of the room farthest
from the pool, opened up a laptop, and got busy reading and typing. He
barely looked up from his computer screen. The children laughed and
giggled and did “tricks”…and kept looking toward the adults to see if
they had noticed. They had not. They would smile at me as if, “Wasn’t
that a neat trick?” and I would smile back. But it seemed like they
wanted the adults who were with them to pay attention and smile,
too…even though they never said, “Watch this!” or asked for their
notice.
I felt sad as I observed this…that these three adults
could not stop for an hour and just “rest” in the moment with their
kids. I had seen this same scenario play out a few days earlier as a
grandmother brought a little girl to swim. The little girl DID ask for
attention…and her grandmother finally put down her copy of The National
Enquirer. As I left the pool, the woman struck up a conversation with
me and volunteered that she has been keeping grandchildren for a few
weeks now, and she was tired. She told me that she had stopped and
picked up this tabloid (to the tune of $5) to read while her
granddaughter swam. I tried not to judge, but a voice in my head said, “Children and grandbabies
grow up overnight – and no longer want to be seen with parents and
grandparents...much less ask for their attention while they swim or
play.”
Parents and grandparents grow old and are gone, and we
wish we had spent a little more time with them…asked more
questions…shown more respect. Relationships fall apart when one person
or the other is too busy, too tired, or too caught up in trying to do
more than is humanly possible. Employees become disgruntled when we
work them to death. Friends and family members grow distant when we
expect too much of them. Ministries become ineffective when those who
are involved become overworked or burned out. Even Jesus and His
disciples took time to rest!
In short, God ordained rest because
He knows we need it! When was the last time you cleared out the clutter
in your life and truly “rested”? Is it time to evaluate your
priorities and make a few adjustments? Will this be the day that you
begin?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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