How was your weekend? I'm guessing that weekends this close to Christmas are fairly busy shopping days - lots of stressed shoppers all preparing for the season of peace and goodwill by getting angry and cross at each other...
Regular visitors to this blog will know that we have been going through Leviticus since September. And a couple of weeks ago we had a visiting speaker come and cover the topic of Sabbath from Leviticus 23:3-4 and 25:1-7.
Christmas is traditionally a time for lots of people to get stressed - and there are lots of reasons for this - but one is simply that we try and do too much. We don't get the rest that we need. It is important that we see ourselves as total human beings - and so the physical, the mental, the spiritual...all the different bits that make us who we are - they are all interconnected. So when we are physically run down that will affect everything else. When we are tired we don't perform as well as people - we react to situations in ways that we wouldn't do normally.
In the Sabbath regulations of Leviticus, God builds a day of rest into the lives of people. Six days of work. One day of rest. Each week. Every week. But it is important to realise that it is not simply a case of what you don't do on the Sabbath that is important. It is also important to think about what you do do. The purpose of not doing certain things is to make space for things that are more important. It is a day that is special. It's a day when there is a specific opportunity to focus on God and on our relationship with him. It's a day to spend time with family and friends. To rest, to relax, to recharge the batteries, to refocus, to get things back into perspective.
For most Christians Sunday is the obvious choice for this day off. We are able to meet together with others at church and worship God together. But increasingly we find more and more people who are required to work on Sunday. What are they to do? Which ever day of the week is your day off - make sure you take it - and don't fill it with so much busy-ness that you go back to work the next day totally exhausted. Get enough sleep. Maybe your church has a house group you can attend that day. Listen to a sermon on the internet. Take the time to read and pray that you don't normally manage in the rush of the normal working week. Meet up with a friend for a long lunch. Go for a walk in the park. Schedule in a long run. If you are able make sure you spend time with your family - eat together.
If you haven't had a day off this week maybe it's time to take one. That's how God designed you.
