The Forgotten Commandment

Are you having a lazy, relaxing summer? If you’re like most people, I suspect that your answer is “no.” We go through this odd pattern every year, assuming that the next season will have a slower pace and allow us to catch up on chores and relax a bit.
But each season just seems to be busier and more hectic than the one that came before, and we never get that chance to relax.

The busy frenetic pace of our lives isn’t just a hassle and a bother. It’s a sin. Unlike other sins, it’s one we seem proud to commit. There’s a hint of pride in our complaints about our hectic schedules. Because we’re busy, we’re important. So many people and projects depend on us. If I don’t paint the garage or clean out the refrigerator, it’s not going to get done. And the world will quit spinning if there’s a dirty refrigerator or shabby-looking garage at our house. That’s what we tell ourselves. So we fill our days and weeks and months with more and more activity, secretly congratulating ourselves on how important we are. We even think that we’re being good faithful Christians by being so busy. After all, doesn’t God want us to serve him and better the world?

This is sinful. And it’s a big sin: so big, in fact, that God named it in the Ten Commandment: “Honor the Sabbath”. Can you imagine ignoring and violating other commandments this way? God commands us to take a day each week to enjoy being with Him, to rest and relax and rejuvenate our spirits.

Three things prevent us from honoring the Sabbath. First, there are practical complications. Some of us have to work on Sundays or have ongoing family commitments that we can’t ignore. These concerns can be addressed if we’re flexible and not dogmatic about our Sabbath-keeping. Make Tuesday your Sabbath. Or divide your Sabbath into two half-days. Be creative, and you’ll be able to be obedient.

Second, we live in a culture that values hard work. Usually, this is good. But it becomes a problem when we stake our self-image upon the work, that we do. If you think that you’re a good person only if you work hard and do lots of things, then you’ve lost sight of the fact that you are a valuable and precious person just as you are. God loves you and takes delight in you; you don’t have to prove anything about yourself when it comes to the Lord. If that’s what God thinks of you, it really doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Your value comes from His love, not from your activity.

Third, we work too hard because we are arrogant. Does that surprise you? But it’s true. We violate the Fourth Commandment because we believe that we are so important that the world will stop spinning if we don’t take care of things. Everyone is counting on us! Taking a Sabbath rest forces us to recognize the truth that God is in charge of the world, and that He’s able to take care of things without us being on call 24/7. Remember: God himself took a Sabbath rest after creating the universe. Do we think that we’re more important than God himself?

Peter