Friday, June 21, 2013

By: Gwen Hitt

Fighting Sleep

Exodus 20:9-10 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work.

Living with my two granddaughters for the last six months has been an enlightening experience. I have been reminded that young children who play hard ALL day need rest! What I have noticed in these instances is that they will either fall asleep in pure exhaustion OR fight their sleep resulting in extreme crankiness.

Do we do the same in our lives? Do we push ourselves until we have nothing left to give BUT refuse to recognize our need to rest???

Today's scriptures remind us that God mandated a day of the week for ALL of us to rest - not to work. In fact, He felt so strongly about this mandate that He modeled His command. In the next verse, Exodus 20:11, we read "For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day He rested."

Reflect on this for a moment - even the Creator of All Things shut everything down and rested! If He managed to do this, WHY can't we?

Sadly, for many of us, this is a difficult thing to do. With the capability of checking our emails and receiving calls ALMOST anywhere, WORK is no longer left at the WORKPLACE!

Yesterday's devotion focused on "finding satisfaction in our work" BECAUSE our jobs are a gift from God. I believe that - just as my grandchildren reach the state of utter exhaustion after playing too hard - we can reach the same state in our adult lives by WORKING too hard! This could impact our work performance and lead to dissatisfaction with our work preventing us from giving glory to God as we are called to do!

My challenge to everyone is to take David's advice in Psalm 23:1-3 "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul." Remember EVEN God rested on the seventh day ...... He wants us to do the same!

Dear Lord, You tell me in Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST." I thank You for offering a place to go to regain my strength - to find peace!

I also thank You, my Jesus, for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life.