"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Mt 11:28)
I just finished two more classes (minus the "post-class work" that I have to turn in sometime over the next couple of weeks. You'd think, knowing the trials and tribulations that I've had in my past with getting my classes done sometimes, that I'd be jumping up and down (17 classes done, 3 to go), but instead, I'm thinking of how much mental work can be involved in some of these classes.
Then, during our Spiritual Enrichment this morning (the School's form of Worship Service), I was thinking of how great of a job I getting everything out of my dorm room and how I had my truck packed and hotel reservations made so that I can spend a little more time with my family before heading home, and then it hit me...When had I taken time for myself lately?
...Sure, I went for a drive and to my old church last weekend, but reflecting back, my mind was still on school.
...I had times when I sat back in my room and watched a TV program, but I was catching a paragraph in a book during commercials.
...There were the breaks and such between classes and the Spiritual Enrichment times, but it's hard to take the focus off of school when it's just on the other side of the walls.
One of the Commandments is to Keep the Sabbath, but it's hard to do because of all of the demands in our lives. Even as Pastors, some of us can find ourselves "forced" to take time away because our schedules have made it hard to keep our Sabbaths.
And Sabbath isn't just "taking a day off". That's called "taking a day off". A Sabbath is a "day of rest AND worship".
We need our times of "taking a day off" for mental refreshment and fellowship with our family and friends, but we also need our Sabbaths for rest and worship to be re-energized by the saving grace of God.
So have fun with your family and friends. Have a Bar-B-Q or go see a show. But don't put off taking a Sabbath day as well to be refreshed.
Blessings!
