The Protestant work ethic has permeated Christian thought for the last half millenium. The Christian believer ought to be a hard worker and responsible with finances. And the same ethic has been applied to spirituality. With reading the Bible daily, attending church every Sunday, going to Bible studies, having an active prayer life, and - not to forget - performing good works, we have come to an age where spirituality is busyness.
But what about the principle behind the Sabbath? God dictated that we rest. To keep the Sabbath holy we were to abstain from all work. Holiness = rest??? In today's Christian culture we can hardly believe such a thing. We practice the spiritual disciplines and we "beat" our spiritual bodies. Holiness is a tough, grueling process.
As you can probably tell by the fact that I am pursuing a doctoral degree, I'm pretty driven. But I still have bouts of laziness and procrastination. I believe that these times are partly a result of not taking adequate rest when I need to. Then by the time I am in a crunch I am too worn out to do my work.
So here's Curt's solutions to living a restful lifestyle, which I found is more than just not doing work:
* Watch less T.V.
* Spend time doing interesting leisure reading
* Take 15 minutes out of your day for silent meditation
* Do something that feels adventurous or exciting
* Get 8-9 hours of sleep
* Save time for attending church
* Limit your works of service to only those which excite you (but do works of service)
* Go for a walk
* Take a nap
* Spend time talking with a friend in person or by phone (and don't just complain about how hectic your life is)
* Have a quiet time with God
If you practice these I believe you will feel more rested and that you will be more suited to live a holy lifestyle. God desires that we enter into his holy rest. So let us surrender our constant busyness and take time out for leisure. We will have more to offer others if we ourselves are full.
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