Happy New Year! - Rest, Reflect, Renewal

Christmas is over. (Deep breath.) Another season of rejoicing in the birth of the Savior has come and gone. We are packing away our decorations, unstringing lights and taking Christmas music off our playlists, while the kids are in the other room playing with new toys. We are all ready for a bit of rest from the celebrations, cooking, traveling and the joyful busyness of the holiday. The New Year is upon us - an amazing opportunity to rest, reflect and pray for renewal for the year ahead.

Rest - “Come to me, all those who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” -Matthew 11:28 (NIV)  As strange as it sounds in a culture that pushes activity, the Lord calls us to rest. After celebrating Jesus’ birth in such glorious (but likely tiring) fashion, what blessing it is to simply sit, take a breath and rest. Rest in who He is, what He is doing and what He has done for us this year. How? He may call us to rest in Him in so many ways, by switching off devices, perhaps opening our Bible or journal in the peace of the morning or just simply sitting in quiet prayer are all great ways to start.

Reflect - “I will meditate on your wonderful works.” (Psalms 145:5b)   A new year is an opportune time to reflect on how the Lord has worked in and around us. Take note of what He has done with a sense of gratitude. Pray with an honest and open heart about any ongoing difficulties, and talk with God as you remember moments that have changed you or have shown you more of Jesus. And for those who blessed you this year, take an opportunity to send a thank you card or a note or gift of encouragement to thank them.

Renew - Isaiah 40:31 says, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”  The new year is dawning, and maybe it’s time for a new, or renewed, you. As we pray for and seek renewal, we are called to place our hope in the Lord. Reminding ourselves of where our hope lies, praying without ceasing, fixing our thoughts on things above and not on earthly troubles - these are among the many ways we can seek the kind of renewal that only comes from Christ.
Let's trek into 2016 with a fervor and hope for what the new year holds! Let's seek and pray for rest, reflection and renewal as we - through grace and faith - strive to walk according to His will.

You know I love ya, Don

More on this devotion:
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Steps to avoiding temptation : Renewal and Rest

The Sabbath Renewal is both a commandment and a gift. It is a day of freedom and release from labor. It is described by Jews as a visiting queen to be greeted with festivity and on going Shabbat, “joy of Sabbath.” At the arrival of the Sabbath, the home is transformed into sacred space, and the meal becomes “a glimpse of human life as it should be, in the design of God” (Harvey Cox).

Rabbi Abraham Heschel describes the Sabbath observance as a cathedral, constructed not of brick and mortar, but of time. The Sabbath helps us escape the tyranny of time. Heschel says that “Judaism tries to foster the vision of life as a pilgrimage to the seventh day; the longing for the renewal all the days of the week,” and a taste of the world to come… “Six days we wrestle with the world; on the Lord’s Day we care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul.”

A believer and follower of Jesus defy disobedience by observing a day of renewal.

St. Augustine stated; “Our hearts are restless, until we find rest in Jesus.” The Sabbath Rest sanctifies time through rest and inaction, a “sacred stasis.” We don’t “keep” the Sabbath; the Sabbath keeps us. Work is a gift from God, but work is not our God. The Sabbath is a day to recover from the stresses of the week. However, weekend leisure without the worship of God is not the plan! We worship because we need it, God deserves it, and Scripture commands it.

By observing Sabbath, we are no longer slaves to the “tyranny of the urgent.” We set aside our anxieties and busyness, our pursuit of more, and we recognize that our refuge is God alone. We are not alone, or on our own.

There’s a danger: We can externally observe a day of rest while remaining restless. I know of people who sit in church taking notes, not on the sermon, but for tasks they need to accomplish. They’re unable to disengage from the work-week, and they’re watching the clock; they can’t wait till Monday to fret over their work. Such an inauthentic Sabbath provides no rest. All the while God says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Even thinking about work should be avoided. We need to rest from the very thought of labor, and relax without guilt.

A believer and follower of Jesus defies disobedience by observing a day of renewal and by resting. You Know I love ya, Don

Take time to rest!

Our culture invites us into constant activity and exhaustion.  In our world of unending hurry, we are trained to fear silence and even to avoid rest itself as a sign of insignificance (if we’re not working or doing something productive, who are we, anyway?).  Thank God that this is not what Jesus invites us into.  Any one who reads Matthew 6 or John 15 will have a hard time missing Jesus’ vision of a slow life of trust and surrender.  And the Bible makes is clear that Sabbath, as a discipline we engage for the sake of our souls, is essential for establishing a healthy, whole rhythm for life.  In Sabbath, we acknowledge our limitations.  And we acknowledge that we need a rest far greater than what 24-hour break can provide.

Taken into consideration, the Sabbath rest is an act of intention. God commanded us in Exodus 20: 8-10: Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gate”. Believers should consider the Sabbath as a day of retreat; one in which we honor our Creator, cease from work and remove ourselves for a while from the stress, mental challenges and physical fatigue that labor often brings. We draw away, whether we enjoy our occupation not. Your Sabbath does not necessarily have to be Sunday, but could be any day of the week set aside to come apart from work in order to rest. In doing so, we not only gain physical respite but also experience the blessing of having spent time in the presence and worship of our God. This is why it is so critically important that we worship as a body of believers to encourage and uplift each other to our Creator for restoration and hope.

This discipline restores and replenishes the soul. Rest is important. It has been scientifically proven that lack of rest affects our immune system, our ability to handle stress, our thought processes, and even our ability to work. This discipline of a Sabbath rest not only rejuvenates us spiritually, but physically and emotionally as well. A healthy follower of Jesus Christ is one who takes time to rest. 

You know I love ya, Don 

Rest and Take a Break!

Rest and Take a Break! …“Observe my Sabbaths.” Leviticus 26:2.

God is saying take a break and rest awhile. This is a hard principle in our lives. The hats we wear continually pull and tug at us. As you grow in adulthood some of you will be wearing hats of college degrees and the workload is tremendous. Then some of you will wear the hat of the workforce and the challenge to achieve will be demanding. Then some of you will put on the hat of parenting and the child will scream and cry for you to be the best parent on the planet. Then culture will kick in with politics, making money, house payments, car payments, and a boatload of other pressures. God is saying, make it a part of your DNA to take a break. Get some rest and allow for your body to catch-up to your circumstances.

This is true of the party animals and those rest too much. Some of you will need to take a rest and break from resting. Over doing the resting is just plain laziness. God adds, Observe My Sabbaths. The texts assumes we will be hard workers that will need to take a break from the load as well as from the pressures that take place in our lives.

Eugene Peterson describes, “Sabbath as that uncluttered time and space in which we can distance ourselves from our own activities enough to see what God is doing.” This is the principle that allows for us to enjoy that which has been done and which will be done.

Lee Iacocca was the CEO and leader of Jeep-Daimler-Chrysler for many years and had great pressure to achieve in a very competitive industry. He was very successful at it. He was also a good father and believer in God. Where did he find the strength to achieve? He replied… "I know when to take a break. Men and women think they are smart enough to lead fortune 500 companies, but they aren’t smart enough to take a two week vacation."

You know I love ya, Don