Finding Life’s Rhythm

This past Sunday I preached from the fourth commandment, which is really two commandments in one: 1.) work six days, and 2.) rest one. We explored the extreme views on sabbatarian doctrine – legalism which asserts we must keep every point of the Old Testament sabbath laws and liberalism which ignores the underlying sabbath principles altogether.

I’ve come to the settled conclusion that “creation sabbath” (God’s day of rest) ended when Adam and Eve sinned. Jesus said in John 5:17 that He and His Father were both at work to this day. Doing what? Redeeming sinful mankind. I also think “covenant sabbath” (between Israel and God) was ruined by the religious leaders leading up to Jesus’ time who turned it into a day of excessive rule-keeping instead of a day of rest for God’s people. But “Calvary sabbath” is eternal. That’s the rest that we have from sin, from guilt, and from a works-based effort of getting to God, that Jesus purchased for us on the cross. I hope and pray you’ve entered into His rest.

But beyond the sabbatarian theology of the fourth commandment lies some pretty significant life principles, the greatest of which is that our Creator understood that our lives needed to have a certain rhythm of work and rest. He commanded hard work, even from the beginning in sinless paradise. But He also commands rest. Most of us are off track to the left or to the right. Either we have a weak work ethic, or we’re workaholics. Why can’t we get it right? Um…. sin.

The New Testament reiterates the expectation that each of us live a life that produces something from the energy God gave us. Inginuity and creativity are built into us, as well as drive, ambition, and determination. So without work, of some kind, we are left empty. We ought to work hard for God’s glory, doing all things with excellence. And we ought to find the work we enjoy, but even when we don’t enjoy our work, we still work for the glory of God. Though Scripture allows room for the truly disabled, Paul said rather brashly that “if a man won’t work, don’t let him eat.” So we work.

For our lives to remain in rhythm, there’s more than work invovled – there’s rest. Jesus essentially told his disciples (who were always concerned with the crowds and masses) to come apart or else you’ll come apart. He commanded rest. He offered rest. He enjoyed rest and expects us to build rest into our schedules. One wise Pastor said we need to divert daily (quiet time), withdraw weekly (a day off), and take an annual vacation as well.

I can tell you that one of the most important decisions I’ve made in a long time was to turn off my cell phone’s setting to check my email every 15 minutes. I was consumed with reading and answering emails, even in times when I was supposed to just be “hanging out” with family and friends. I can still check it, but now it doesn’t buzz every fifteen minutes as a reminder of the tyranny of the urgent.

What do you need to do to find God’s intended rhythm for your life? It may be that you need to enter into Christ’s ultimate and eternal rest by placing your trust in Him as Savior. It could be that you need to ditch the cell phone on Sundays. I don’t know, but it’s worth it. Living in God’s intended rhythm, working hard, resting regularly, and being in His purpose is the ultimate need in our lives.