Conventional work practice will usually tell you that being the last one to leave the office, coming in on days off and burning the midnight oil on a regular basis will always reap rewards without fail. While paycheques and performance reports will always agree, overworking is not without consequence.
Gallup says that the average workweek for the American is at 47 hours a week. For people in higher management and executive levels, the number can go as high as 60 to 70 hours a week. The problem today isn't just that some people are being lazy, but that some people are starting to work too hard.
I admit to failing in the area of work in that sometimes I tend to push too hard as well. In this day and age, being a workaholic is a glorious identity. But in the eyes of God it is an idolatry that promises only ruin not just for our health but even for our faith life as well.
God from the very beginning models for us a lifestyle of pausing and resting. On the seventh day after six jam-packed days of creation, He takes a moment to rest not because He was tired but because He wanted to set an example for us to follow.
Exodus 20:8-10 tells us, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates."
Rest is not just good for the body, but also for the soul. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus urges us to approach Him and gain rest for our souls. Have you ever felt that you had no will to go on even though you had had a good night's sleep? Chances are, if that happens, you're soul needs rest.
When we honour the Sabbath, we don't just take a break from work, but we also declare that even as we rest God works on our behalf. Too often the greatest enemy of rest is an anxiety that tells us that if we rest, all we have worked on will fall apart. But God's rest calls us to put our faith and trust in Him knowing that even as we take a break from work, God is still busy putting things together for us.
Work is a good thing and God calls us to work hard and to be productive, but He also calls for balance in that we also take time to rest because it's in rest that we grow in our faith and trust towards Him.
