The Importance of Rest

I've heard some say that Americans live to work and folks in many other countries work to live. That is a whimsical way of saying that we tend to be work-a-holics. Maybe the reason for our obession with work is theological.... When Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the ground and told Adam that he would live from the ground, but by his own sweat. Sin has a way of twisting our desires in order to create within us unhealthy levels of desire. I know some people who are so engrossed in their work that they spend over 80 hours a week at work and leave little time for their family, God or personal rest. May the reason for our obession with work is jealousy... We live in nice houses, but someone always has a nicer house. We drive nice cars, but someone always has a nicer car. Whether we realize it or not, we live in constant competition with the Joneses (whoever they may be). We want more so we work more. The irony of that is that with the added work comes decreased time to enjoy the things you work for. Maybe the reason for our obession is the erroneous beleif that rest equates laziness... Afterall, if a man will not work, he shouldn't eat! True, but whoever said taking a break was bad or made one lazy? The simple truth is that we need rest.

If you study the Gospels you'll find that Jesus was one of the busiest people, ever! He constantly had people around him. He constantly had work to do. Someone was always asking him for something. People constantly wanted to see him or be near him. Jesus couldn't even spend time in prayer with the Father unless it was the wee hours of the morning. If you take a close look at the Gospels you'll find 6 or 7 times or so where Jesus seemingly drops from existence and can't be found. I don't mean that he disappeared or anything metaphysically spiritual. I simply mean that he would pull away from the crowd and demands of his work and he would rest. He would spend time with the Father. He would pray. He would be still. He would be in solitude. He would rest. Since Jesus is our example and we should honor him by becoming like him, maybe we could find some creative ways in which to pull away from the crowd and rest. Who's up for a nap?