Lent - Days 25 and 26
Plan Your Sabbath
Plan Your Sabbath
Saturday,
March 14 & Sunday, March 15, 2015
Jeff Lampl
Jeff Lampl
"He continued to pray just as he had always done." Daniel 6:10
“Somewhere
it's written, 'God rested the seventh day, having completed his work,'
but
in this other text he says, 'They'll never be able to sit down and rest.' .
. .
because they were disobedient."
Hebrews 4:4-6 (MSG)
Hebrews 4:4-6 (MSG)
Devotional
Americans are overworked and stressed. More than 90 percent of us stay connected to our mobile phones, which is to say our office 24/7. We take comfort from our work obsession because if work gives meaning to our lives then more work means more meaning.
Remedy?
Try 24/6.
Practice
Sabbath Keeping, meaning learning to stop.
When
we stop the work takes on more meaning and the stopping takes on holiness.
It
is interesting
to note that on
the
seventh
day
of
the creation story God
showed
restraint,
which
is
“not
doing
everything
that
one
has
the
power
to do."
Doctors do this.
They stop and don’t work at least one day a week, even though crushing
human need still exists.
They show restraint.
How
will you show restraint this Sabbath tonight and/or tomorrow?
Can you make this week a 24/6 week.
Here’s
a challenge. In
addition to planning some Sabbath Keeping activities (people, prayer, scripture,
silence, solitude) try leaving a good portion of the day unplanned.
Let the day come to you.
Discover what God places before you.
Maybe there will be some serendipities, or maybe there will be the
dreaded “nothing” in which case you may find yourself chafing at the bit
looking for something to do.
If that’s the case practice.
Practice not doing and instead being.
For most of us that’s incomprehensible, but I have found many quiet
moments to be not only precious but also sometimes the most (inadvertently)
“productive” (in the most important of ways) moments of my week.
However
you do it, give God time to get a word in edgewise on your Sabbath Day.
Prayer
Lord, you are the great Physician who prescribes for us exactly what we need. Apparently we need rest and restraint because you’ve told us we do. Help us to practice it long enough on a weekly basis so that it becomes not a chore but a delight. In Christ’s Name. Amen”
Lord, you are the great Physician who prescribes for us exactly what we need. Apparently we need rest and restraint because you’ve told us we do. Help us to practice it long enough on a weekly basis so that it becomes not a chore but a delight. In Christ’s Name. Amen”
Silence
(two
minutes)
Comment
For more: follow on Twitter @jefflampl
Download the entire devotional for free
http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/dailyoffice.pdf
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