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No Time
Many of us live in a very tense and fast-paced environment filled with so many things to do and so little time to do them. Mother Teresa said: “I think today the world is upside down, and is suffering so much because there is very little love in the home, and in family life. We have no time for our children, we have no time for each other. There is no time to enjoy each other.”
In some cultures, the drive to “get ahead,” to make money, to be a “success,” dominates everything to the point where marriage, families, and even health are sacrificed.
Of course, working hard, doing one’s best, and striving to provide for oneself and one’s family are good; the Bible has little time for slackers (Prov. 6:9, 13:4, 2 Thess. 3:10). We can, however, take a good thing too far, and as a result we and the ones we love and care about suffer. So often we hear about a father who works all the time, arguing that he is doing it “for his family,” when in the end, it is the family who is being hurt by the father’s continued and excessive absence.
Read Genesis 2:15. What does it say about God’s intention for humanity regarding work, even before sin?
From the beginning, even in the pre-Fall world, God’s intention was for humans to work. And to rest from work, as well. Especially now, as fallen beings thousands of years removed from the tree of life, we must remember that our bodies have limitations, and, therefore, resting is vitally important.
Read Mark 6:30–32, 45–46. What do these texts say to us about the need for rest, regardless of what we are doing and how important our work might be?
Jesus and His disciples took time to rest. He knew that His body needed time to be refreshed. We, too, need time for daily rest. Persistent cheating on our sleep produces, in time, physical and emotional loss. No matter how young, how healthy, how strong, our bodies need rest, and sooner or later an intemperate lifestyle will catch up to us.
What things drive you? What things motivate you? What things cause you to work the hardest? Whatever they are, however noble and good they might be, you need to ask yourself if they are worth ruining you health over.
| SUNDAY | May 9 |
Many of us live in a very tense and fast-paced environment filled with so many things to do and so little time to do them. Mother Teresa said: “I think today the world is upside down, and is suffering so much because there is very little love in the home, and in family life. We have no time for our children, we have no time for each other. There is no time to enjoy each other.”
In some cultures, the drive to “get ahead,” to make money, to be a “success,” dominates everything to the point where marriage, families, and even health are sacrificed.
Of course, working hard, doing one’s best, and striving to provide for oneself and one’s family are good; the Bible has little time for slackers (Prov. 6:9, 13:4, 2 Thess. 3:10). We can, however, take a good thing too far, and as a result we and the ones we love and care about suffer. So often we hear about a father who works all the time, arguing that he is doing it “for his family,” when in the end, it is the family who is being hurt by the father’s continued and excessive absence.
Read Genesis 2:15. What does it say about God’s intention for humanity regarding work, even before sin?
From the beginning, even in the pre-Fall world, God’s intention was for humans to work. And to rest from work, as well. Especially now, as fallen beings thousands of years removed from the tree of life, we must remember that our bodies have limitations, and, therefore, resting is vitally important.
Read Mark 6:30–32, 45–46. What do these texts say to us about the need for rest, regardless of what we are doing and how important our work might be?
Jesus and His disciples took time to rest. He knew that His body needed time to be refreshed. We, too, need time for daily rest. Persistent cheating on our sleep produces, in time, physical and emotional loss. No matter how young, how healthy, how strong, our bodies need rest, and sooner or later an intemperate lifestyle will catch up to us.
What things drive you? What things motivate you? What things cause you to work the hardest? Whatever they are, however noble and good they might be, you need to ask yourself if they are worth ruining you health over.
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