What is your reaction when you hear the phrase "take the day off"?  Often times it can be an overwhelming thought.  When was the last time, you actually made an appointment, set aside a full day, to simply rest?  

 

Late last year, I purchased "Take the Day Off" by Pastor Robert Morris, and honestly it is one of the best books I could recommend to anyone.  If the thought of purchasing a book, on "rest" stresses you out, b/c you do not have the margin to sit down and read a book, then I recommend this book even more. 

 

For believers, this day, would be known as taking a Sabbath Day.  This is not just an idea, it is a commandment.  It literally made God's Top 10 list, yet we struggle with it.  Perhaps it is because the lines between work and home are so blurred due to technology today. We have allowed technology to control and dictate nearly every interaction that we have.  

 

Let me encourage you this week.  Take the Day OFF!  Schedule it.  Pull out your planner, click on your calendar app, and write "Nothing".  Now for those that aren't currently regularly observing a Sabbath day, this thought may seem impossible.   I compare it to the Tithe.  

 

It already seems impossible that most individuals are struggling paycheck to paycheck, the thought of offering to God a first fruits tithes seems out of reach.  It's the statement of Faith though that sees this through and allows all of your other income to be blessed.  The same can be said with your time.  Offering the Sabbath Rest as time with God, is often times a step of faith.  Much like your finances, your time is already stretched thin, there aren't enough hours in the day as it is.  It is the step of Faith, that honors God.  The first fruits offering of your time, that allows the other 90% of your week to be redeemed and blessed.  

 

Is the Sabbath for God or us?  It's for us.  Even in agriculture, farmers have recognized the importance of allowing their land to rest, with it actually proven that if the land rests every 7th year, it will be even more fruitful.  So if even dirt knows that it needs to rest, perhaps we can be wiser than dirt.  The Sabbath isn't for God, much like God doesn't "need" our tithe.  It's all his anyways and we are only stewards of it.  "The Earth Is the Lord's and everything in it"  Psalm 24:1

 

Let me just encourage you, spend some time in prayer, figure out what taking a day off would look like for you.  It looks different for everyone, make time for God in this moment as well.  

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David J. Howell 10-8-20