SEVEN: LEARN TO SABBATH
EXODUS 20:8-11
VIDEO: TOP 10 COUNTDOWN
ILLUSTRATION…newsonrelevantscience.blogspot.com/2011/07/united-states-of-workaholics-10-telling.html The United States of Workaholics: 10 Telling Stats You Should Know
#1 Thirty-four percent of American adults don't take their vacation days for various reasons.
#2 Workaholic marriages suffer more than others: The divorce rate amongst couples with no workaholic spouse sits at around 16%. By contrast, workaholic marriages crumble at a 55% rate.
#3 Sixty-plus work-hour weeks are not uncommon.
#4 The average amount of hours worked per week is steadily increasing: Between 1970 and 2006, the average number of hours in a working year skyrocketed by 200! What makes workaholism such a difficult issue to address is the fact that it's one of the only addictions where sufferers receive rewards and validation for their addiction. Being perceived as a "go-getter" and financial compensation both legitimize such behavior.
#5 Workaholics have a higher rate of heart disease: Individuals working 11 hours a day or more suffer from 67% chance of coronary heart disease than those with about seven or eight. Ten hour days saw an increase of 45%.
#6 Lunch breaks are (voluntarily!) shrinking: Around 60% of people said they spend 20 minutes or less eating, and 20% take 10 minutes or less, and a further 25% reported never even bother leaving their desks. At least 75% of participants say they eat lunch at their desk around two to three days per week.
#7 Workaholics perceive time differently and always feel they are in a rush through the day, think they have not accomplished anything, and 56% don’t believe they have a sufficient amount of fun.
#8 More severe workaholics can't even relax on vacation without getting sick. An estimated 1/3 of migraines and 1/6 of tension headaches come about because of the body's inability to enjoy its time off.
#9: Workaholics Anonymous Exists: Yes, a 12-step program exists to help individuals afflicted with workaholism. At least 50 different recovery communities exist worldwide, congregating either in person, online or over the phone. It launched in 1983.
#10 Workaholics are more likely to suffer a job-related injury or illness: The more time one spends working, the more susceptible he or she is to end up sick or injured as a result. Chronic over timers face a 61% increased risk over those without such habits.
I wonder how many of us would be categorized as “workaholics” if we took the 20 question survey from Workaholics Anonymous (workaholics-anonymous.org)? I wonder how many of us already consider ourselves as “workaholics?” I wonder how many times we skip our lunches or don’t take our vacation days or allow our job to crowd our weekends? Has our family has given up expecting us on time?
Do you always feel rushed at work?
Do you work more hours than what your employer pays you for?
Do you constantly feel pressure to work even when you are at home?
Do you get headaches or feel ill when you try to relax?
Work is one of those parts of our lives that we look forward to when we are young and foolish (and want to buy our first car) and often becomes something we hate when we are older and a little wiser. Work is necessary for life. Work is how we earn money to buy the things we need and even sometimes the things we want. Work is framed as something good and worthwhile in the Bible. King Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 says, “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” Work is something that can be enjoyed but can also be something that can absolutely take every thought captive and every moment hostage... when that happens, we have a problem that needs a solution.
Perhaps you have been listening and you know most definitely you are a “workaholic.” Maybe you are sitting and thinking, that is not me at all. Maybe your schedule is warped in another way and you struggle with balance in a different area. When you think about your week and your evenings, are you ever at home? Are you one of those people or one of those families who are always on the go and have a different activity every single night of the week? Are you dinners always rushed or maybe eaten in the car? You see there are many different ways that our lives can become unbalanced. Our hobbies and activities can also take over our time and deform our daily lives. Our desires for our kids and grandkids to be active and socially fulfilled can take over our lives. Our desire to do everything can twist our todays and tomorrows into blurs.
VIDEO: TOP 10 COUNTDOWN
ILLUSTRATION…realsimple.com/work-life/family/kids-parenting/overscheduled-kids-00100000076996 /index.html // Top 10 Signs your Kids are Overscheduled
#1 You never see your kids just doing nothing: Replay some mental pictures of your child over the past week. If all your images are of them on the go—heading to an appointment, on the way back from one, doing homework, practicing an instrument—and there are not many moments of quiet and relaxation, your kid is too busy.
#2 Your child has the constitution of an old man: So maybe there’s no hunchback or gray hairs yet, but it’s a warning sign if your child looks and acts tired, complains of headaches and pains, isn’t sleeping well or “just doesn’t feel right”
#3 Your kid no longer loves peanut butter fudge ice cream, flute, or Justin Beiber sing-alongs: “One of the surest signs that a kid is overscheduled is when what used to be fun isn’t fun anymore”
#4 Grades are dropping: If you can’t read your child’s face, head to the data—look at the grades. One of the most oft-cited signs for an overscheduled child is that their grades start to drop. School should be a top priority, and if activities are sapping a child’s time and energy away from homework, something needs to get cut.
#5 Your car becomes the fourth member of your family: Your gas bills have shot up. Your car has become an extension of the home. You’re spending more time with your kids in the car than anywhere else, because you’re constantly shuttling them back and forth to activities. This is a sign that activities and schedules are dominating as the focus of family time.
#6 Your child is moody and anxious: Dr. Bob Block, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics, has been seeing an increase in the rate of depression in kids, and he thinks it’s partly to overscheduled lives.
#7 Their best friend isn’t around anymore: Your child and her best friend used to be thick as thieves—now you never see her. Ruling out a fight, a sign your child is too busy is when he or she no longer connects with friends
#8 Family meal times are a thing of the past: If your kids are dropping out of mealtimes for choir practice or dance rehearsal, then it’s time to re-assess priorities. Think back to the past week or two. How many meals did your child eat on the go or in the car?
#9 Your child is suddenly needy: If a child starts to look to you to tell him what to do at every turn, this might be a sign he’s overscheduled
#10 You yourself are tired: One of the easiest ways to tell that your child is too busy? “You as the parent feel stressed,” says Cronin. Hallowell agrees: “You’re tired of schlepping them around, you dread all the activities—you’re tired yourself,” he says. “If you as the parent feel this way, chances are that your child does too.”
Are you a family that is overscheduled?
Maybe you listened to those things about families and realized you as a single person are over scheduled?
Being overscheduled is not something that is relegated to families with children or grandparents with grandchildren, but can overtake anyone in any season of their life. Over scheduling yourself and not being able to say “no” can cause your life to become damaged without you realizing it. Hobbies, activities, sports, clubs, and entertainment are all things that can be enjoyed but can take every thought captive and every moment hostage... when that happens, we have a problem that needs a solution.
The solution is learning to Sabbath. The solution is learning to rest.
Did you know that the Bible talks about time management and the way that our lives should be patterned? The Bible is a book that has many different authors, but all are divinely inspired by the God who created each one of us and created time. The advice and commands we find in Scripture should be priority for us since we hold the Author in such high regard.
In the Bible, the number “7” often means something significant when it is used… it means completeness or perfection or a standard to live up to. If we study the number 7 in Scripture, the number 7 relates to some very significant areas of our lives. Over the next three weeks, we will see how the number 7 relates to our time, our relationships, and our resources. As we are beginning 2014, I hope you want your life to be complete, as perfect as possible, and perhaps you are looking for a standard to reach for and meet in your life. For the next three weeks, the “Number 7” will be our guide!
Today we are going to look at how the “Number 7” relates to our time. Let’s read from the Old Testament from Exodus 20 where God speaks through Moses about our time, time management, and learning to rest. This passage in Exodus 20 reflects what God already did in Genesis 1 and 2 which is lay out a pattern for us to follow – rest on the seventh day. God taught us how to manage our time by resting, even though He didn’t need to. The Bible teaches us that rest is an important part of our lives no matter what we are doing. We find in the Scriptures that Rest comes from God, rest is for us, and rest is for God.
Exodus 20:8-11
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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 gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (NIV 1984)
I. REST COMES FROM GOD
One of the first truths we see about rest is that it comes from God. Exodus 20:11, which we just read, tell us that God Created everything in six days and rested on the seventh. This is the same thought found in Genesis 2:1-3 which says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (NIV 1984)
We believe that God is omnipresent which means He is present everywhere.
We believe that God is omnitemporal which means He is eternal and present at all moments in time.
We believe that God is omniscient which means He is all-knowing.
We believe that God is omnipotent which means He is all powerful.
The God that we believe in is not One that needs any sort of rest at any time! Yet, the Bible is clear that when He was setting the foundations of the world, that on the seventh day He rested. He did this to show us a pattern of what is needed in our lives. God set a pattern of work and rest from the very beginning of creation. God created work. God created rest. God created for us a pattern of work and rest that we should follow in our lives. Exodus 20 shares with us in verses 9-10: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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 gates.” (NIV 1984) Do you see the pattern? The pattern is work and labor and toil, but rest must occur. Sabbath must occur. When I see the word “rest” in the Bible I also see the word “Sabbath.” Rest is Sabbath. Sabbath is rest. You and I need to rest because the One who created us shows us that we need it. You and I need to Sabbath because the One who created us shows us that we need it.
ILLUSTRATION… Our Daily Bread, June 6, 1994
According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity. Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical man, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bow implies."
The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop explained, "If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it."
People tend to break down when pulled to tight all the time. People are like that because God made us that way. That's why we all need to take time to Sabbath. Shouldn't we take God seriously when He gives us a pattern for time management and it includes resting? One of the first truths we see about rest is that it comes from God. He created Sabbath rest for us.
II. REST IS FOR US & THOSE AROUND US
The second truth we see in Scripture is that rest is for us and for those around us. Jesus Christ tells us in Mark 2:27, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (NIV 1984). The Message puts it like this, “The Sabbath was made to serve us; we weren’t made to serve the Sabbath” (MSG). Rest was designed for us to calm down, center our emotions, be refreshed, and physically rest our bodies. Human beings were not fashioned by Almighty God to work constantly all day every day with no relief or no break. Jesus tells us in Mark 2:27 that rest was made for us because we need rest. God built rest into the 7 day week so that we would get the rest we need. This is why the example of God in Genesis 1 and 2 is so important… God set the pattern of rest for us and for our benefit.
Rest is not only for us, but for those around us. When you get into the habit of Sabbath, those around you also benefit. Your family will benefit from the priority of rest because each member of the family is resting. Your children and grandchildren will learn that Sabbath is a habitual and normal part of life. Your coworkers will benefit because you will be fresher on the job with more energy. We were meant to enjoy our time of rest and play games, rent movies, spend time together sharing memories and food and enjoying one another’s company.
ILLUSTRATION… Church office (p)
One of the wonderful benefits we have at NBCC is the presence of full-time staff. You can call the church most any day Monday thru Friday and speak to someone in person and not get a recording. You can call and put in prayer concerns on the prayer list. You can call and ask questions about events. However, if you call between 12 and 1… we will not answer. Some of you tend to wait to call until then and your call goes unanswered to voice mail. Why? That is our time to have lunch and rest. I love many things about Shirley, but one of the best things is that she is absolutely gone from the office at 12:00 noon and returns promptly at 1:00pm. She takes time to rest. She enjoys her lunch. John A and Sara often eat lunch in the kitchen away from the phones and the hustle and bustle… a great way to take a break in the middle of the day. So if you call in the middle of the work day and none of us answer, please don’t get upset. Just know we are practicing the pattern that God set for us… we are resting. We are refreshing ourselves.
ILLUSTRATION… from dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1313812/Why-rest-good-sleep-long-dont-just-slob-TV.html // Types of rest
In researching and reading on rest, I found several “experts” on rest that defined several different types of rest that we should enjoy. I’m not sure how someone gets to be an expert on “rest,” but I like what they had to say about “resting”:
Social Rest: This is defined as spending time with friends and family. No matter how busy you are, it is vital to build spending time with people into your day. Sociable people, according to one study, showed people at reduced risk of heart disease and other serious illnesses.
Mental Rest: Today we all try to do too many things at once - texting while driving, eating while watching TV - and we've lost an understanding of the brain's need to focus on one thing and to rest. Slowing down mentally even for a short period has been shown to affect the nervous system, change blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. The idea behind mental rest is to get so engrossed in something simple and allow your brain to recover..
Physical Rest: This is about actively using the body's processes, such as breathing, to calm body and mind. Make sure you rest your body and not just everything else. Naps are proven to lower blood pressure and help concentration.
Spiritual Rest: U.S. research has shown that people who regularly attend religious services live longer than those who do not. Although some of this benefit must lie in the social connection, scans show the brain responds in specific ways in prayer which has health benefits.
The second truth we see in Scripture is that rest is for us and for those around us. What kind of rest do you need? I would suggest that “resting” involves all the aspects we just mentioned. Learning to Sabbath means you rest your mind and body and you engage your spirit. That leads us to our last truth.
III. REST IS FOR US FOR GOD
The third truth we see in Scripture is that rest is for us for God. Above all the other reasons, rest was built into the pattern of our lives because it is for us to stop and focus on God. To fulfill the Biblical view of Sabbath, we must stop our busy lives and all the things we do normally and focus on God. Our relationship with Jesus Christ often gets crowded out in all the coming and going and work hours and activities of life. Rest is more than just the physical body or centering yourself emotionally, rest is about your spiritual life.
Remember the passage we read in Exodus 20
Verse 8: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”
Verse 11: “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
God built into our lives a day to rest and remember Him. God desires that we take a day out of our busy lives and rest and focus on Him. It is on this day of rest that we make an effort to be still. Psalm 46:10 tells us, "Be still, and know that I am God.” It is on this day of rest that we focus and refocus on our relationship with God. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
APPLICATION
Make no mistake about it, we live in a “go go go” culture where busy is seen as better and taking a break is often looked down upon. Being a workaholic means your life is unbalanced. Having your family overscheduled also creates imbalance. The problem is that there is only so much time in a day and only so much time in a week… and we must prioritize. “Learning to Sabbath” is not something that will just happen automatically, but because of the type of culture we live in, it must be something that you want to do and you do on purpose.
God shows us in His Word that a consistent pattern of rest is what is needed in our lives.
* Develop a pattern of resting your body each week from work.
* Develop habits that let your mind rest from always being active.
* Develop spiritual disciplines in your life that allow you to focus on God.
* Develop those same habits in your children and grandchildren.
CONCLUSION
