 A Moment Apart… When I was a very young woman, I actually asked the Lord to keep me busy. I didn't want to have a "boring" life, where things were ordinary and 'day to day.' I wanted to be engaged, energized, active. Well, I must say, I am BUSY! Preschool, dance classes, Bible Study, work, meetings, football games, family, and friends keep me so busy that my calendar looks like an edited high school English paper - in its first draft. I enjoy many of the activities in which I participate - trips to Panera Bread, Outreach activities, laughing during Bible Study - but sometimes, I admit, I am overwhelmed. We have some friends who have consistently encouraged us to look at our calendar and cut some things, carving out some time for our own "little" family. It's very, VERY hard to do. For me, dropping activities can mean risking the quality of relationships associated with those activities. And besides that, I do these things because I like to do them - so why would I want to quit them? Even though I balk at cutting down my schedule, it's so important to make the time necessary to keep my core support system (my little family, including myself) strong and healthy. If I try to build on my core without strengthening it, I am like a house built on sand. If the heart of the system crumbles and weakens, so will my activities extending from it. It's ironic, but to be a positive influence in the extra things I do I have to be a positive influence in my home and with myself. This is the same with Sabbath. Like many things in Scripture, the honest Truth is often contrary to popular belief and what we might consider 'logic.' Over and over again, Scripture flips things around. For example, if you give, you shall receive. On the surface, how does that make sense? Or how about these: the least shall be the greatest and the first shall be the last? Similarly, we want to say, "I can't afford to take off an entire day to do nothing!" Here's the counter-intuitive thing: the Sabbath day is a day for you to rejuvenate with the Life-Giver. While family and self are close to the core, they are not the core itself. On the Sabbath, you strengthen your relationship with the very essence of your life: the LORD God. Here is what the LORD Himself had to say about the Sabbath Day: "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work... Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out with amazing power and mighty deeds. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day." Deut. 5:12-14b, 15 In Genesis 2:2, it is written: "On the seventh day, having finished his task, God rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from his work of creation." God wants to be in relationship with us. If we allow ourselves to be too busy to take proper time for Him, our core will not be as strong as it should be. Thus, our extending activities, relationships, and very lives will not be what they should be. We will be weaker and less effective in what really matters. Can you see some room for improvement in your activities and relationships? Go to the core. May God strengthen you. This Week at Wesley… We're in the swing of things!
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God bless you this week! Jessica Sichel |
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This Week at Wesley... 10/12/11posted Oct 14, 2011 9:21 AM by Wesley UMC |