daily spiritual reflection - mar. 28

BIBLE READING FOR THE DAY: 

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for those who enter God's rest also rest from work just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

-Hebrews 4:9-11

THOUGHT: Sabbath, Hebrew for REST, was both commanded by God in the ten commandments given to Moses, and modeled by God himself in the creation story, when he took the seventh day to stop and rest. This passage reminds us that this rest is a gift offered to us by God, a chance to rest from work, to restore ourselves. There are two interesting points brought up by this passage: 

1." make every effort" : taking time to rest, daily, and weekly, is really difficult, and requires effort on our part. We have to choose to set aside time to slow down, stop, and live counter-culturally. The entire world is rushing constantly to get things done, and squeezing in every other possible other moment with a desperate need to be entertained and distracted. What if instead we fought back against these forces? 

2. "so that no one will perish". Not resting leads us into a lifestyle that is not life-giving at all. when we don't take time to rest, our relationships suffer, our health suffers, our emotion and well-being suffer, our sense of what matters in life gets confused. Rest brings life back into all these things.

CHALLENGE:  How desperate are you for the kind of rest God offers us? Set aside a time this week when you can practice God's rest-- preferably a period of at least 20 minutes in a day, and then one period of at least 4-5 hours in a week (slowly work your way up to a 24 hour period in a week). Here's some advice from my pastor on how to rest:

1. make space, and know that making space for rest will radically restructure your life routine and may require some sacrifice (sleep, homework, a coffee date, facebook time)-- but it will be worth it, if you choose it!

2. just STOP: be still, be silent, move slowly.

3. Put achievement and productivity as far away as possible: be intentionally inefficient--be 'wasteful'

4. Don't try to accomplish something spiritual by resting, just let God come to mind, let him do the work of restoring you.

5. Rest from some relationships too: restore your comfort with solitude in order to restore your relationships to a healthier place.

6. Beware the difference between rest and ENTERTAINMENT. Stay away from the overstimulated consumer culture that people have built up as distractions for their lives-- that won't bring you to true rest, and instead can crowd out true recreation.

7. Celebrate. Take time to gather with people and party and enjoy life-- God was always mandating celebrations and holidays from work... he's all about it.