Taking a Break From Life’s Merry-Go-Round

            As a child, do you remember riding the merry-go-round on the playground? I can recall a pile of us kids sitting on the ride while someone pushed us until we got dizzy. When the rotation became too much it didn’t matter if the merry-go-round was still moving; sometimes we’d jump off to escape because we couldn’t take it anymore. Our bodies are designed to only withstand so much spinning.

            This is true of life as well. The further we move into the 21st century the faster our days seem to be swirling and God asks us to jump off the ride once a week. Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, cell phones, shopping, cleaning.  We need to put it all down and take a Sabbath rest. God wants us to relax our minds and our bodies for 24 hours.

            Before you think I am an expert at this, I will confess I am guilty of not taking a break on the Sabbath. Over the past six weeks, we hosted a small group Bible study in our home and Sundays were about cleaning, preparing food, and facilitating the study.  Instead of waking up refreshed on Monday morning, I started out the week tired. It’s not that I wasn’t supposed to host a small group, it’s that I didn’t take a Sabbath rest on a different day. Instead of jumping into a work schedule on Monday, maybe I should have designated that as my Sabbath.

            God rested on the seventh day after he created the earth and its living creatures in six days.  In Exodus, Moses reinforced the concept of the Sabbath to the Israelites: He [Moses] said to them, This is what the LORD commanded: “Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left [of the manna] and keep it until morning.”

            And if you think this is just an Old Testament command, Hebrews 4:9-10 reiterated the concept of taking a Sabbath break: There must still be, therefore, a seventh-day rest reserved for God’s people, since to enter the place of rest is to rest after your work, as God did after his.

            Last Sunday, even though we still had a small group at my house, I made some strides towards keeping the Sabbath. I wanted to go to Hobby Lobby and get some greenery for my table.  I didn’t.  After our small group ended, I really wanted to work on a PowerPoint for an upcoming message. I didn’t pull out my computer. I let my brain take a break. I’m not perfect but today, as I fight a scratchy throat and feel my body breaking down a little, God has my attention.

            I am going to be honest with you. I think the reason we don’t think we need to rest boils down to pride. We believe we are invincible when we’re not. We think we can fly at top speed without rest when we can’t. We don’t entertain the concept of taking a break until God forces us to rest through sickness or injury. Our bodies were designed by God to recharge once a week or the batteries will go dead. 

            What about you? Do you take a Sabbath rest each week? I was once described as a helium balloon, filled with energy that keeps me moving all day, but when all the helium finally escapes at night, I’m deflated and there’s nothing left.  So true.  Is it true of you? If so, what do you plan to do about it?

            Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (Exodus 20:10)