Sabbath or Burnout
My dad used to say, "First you do what you have to do, then you do what you want to do." Others say, "Work hard, play hard." There's some wisdom here circling around work ethic, priorities, and avoiding laziness and procrastination.
In our culture today, however, we rarely get to the "play hard" part of the equation, for there's always more work to do. Our to-do lists are never fully accomplished, our inboxes never empty, our calendars always full.
We live with no margin, assigning a name to every second of the day.
People used to come home from work. Now, we come home and work. People used to take vacations. Now we take our projects on vacation. Between our computers, tablets and smart phones, we're always connected, always available, always working.
What ever happened to a Sabbath rest?
Does that sound lazy? Does the idea of not working 80 hours a week seem sluggish? Can we even fathom the thought of being still to delight in the presence of God?
Family worship must consist of a Sabbath rest; an intentional retreat from the non-stop demand of overtime, kid's sporting events, school meetings, and birthday parties.
The Lord gave his people a Sabbath's day rest. Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). It's a gift. A gift that we need. A gift that we can't afford to ignore.
We all have busy schedules and full calendars, but unless we push pause in order to enjoy our Savior, rest in the presence of the Lord, and celebrate family worship with an undivided, undistracted heart, then I'm afraid that the next thing on our calendar will inevitably be "burnout."
Jonathan Williams is the founder of Gospel Family Ministries and the Senior Pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church, a multi-ethnic church of 44 nations located in Houston, TX.
