Rest
The older I get, the more value I see in rest. The rhythms of my body and my life are quite different than they were when I was significantly younger. For example, I love power naps. I can take a 10-minute nap in the mid afternoon and get my “second wind”. I can still function without the nap, but I do admit that I like it. I have a harder time resting my mind. I have all sorts of gadgets that have “notifications” that vary. I’m learning more and more how obnoxious that can be. A good friend of mind called the cell phone his “electronic leash”. In this age of technology and “time saving” tools, we seem to have much less time for reflection and rest.
When I first entered the real estate business 15 years ago, I learned that I couldn’t leave my phone beside my bed. It would ring all hours of the night because some people were working the night shift. I now leave it in another room and my family and close friends know that if they need me during the night, they need to reach out to my wife.
I’m not sure if God created everything in 6 literal days with 24 hours each in them, but I do believe He could if He wanted. I do think that it is significant that He modeled rest. Check this out…
1 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. (Genesis 2:1-3 NLT)
To rest is to not work. I sometimes come home and rest from my day job and work on another job. My job is hard to “turn off” for sure, but I’m learning that rest and relaxation sometimes have to be planned and entered into my calendar. I can “rest” while riding the lawn mower, but the weed-eater, not so much!
I want to be diligent and deliberate about resting. I do think that I must work to “earn” some rest, otherwise, I would be considered lazy. Some people have “rest” down to an art and they could probably be considered lazy. I want to pay close attention to my body and my mind and get the proper rest needed for the most efficient use of my time. If my time is meant to glorify the Lord, I need to manage my rest-run daily life.
Pressing On!
Dwayne