I admit to becoming increasingly aware of envy, and it is ugly. And I’ve started to notice a pattern, which you might recognise, and maybe a way through.
Category: rest
Rest. Days off. Holidays. Even the occasional evening off – how do we make the best use of it? After all, it’s not just a good part of the creation rhythm, but it’s a reminder of the gospel. Salvation – even a pastor’s salvation – is not accomplished by your work. Well, we know the
Here’s a snapshot of what turned out to be a really frustrating morning. At the beginning, I had around eight emails to answer. Each one I answered generated a reply. So did the next wave of replies I sent. I also had around five I needed to send. Same pattern. And – spoiler alert –
Pastors who cannot Sabbath in some way, suffer. So do their marriages and families. So do the churches. The rub, of course, is that we leave being a Christian behind too. Which is not only easy, it is devastatingly stupid.
I’m sure it is a good spiritual discipline to fast and pray – but if you know your medical research you’ll know that occasional fasting actually does our body good. There’s no measure on which going without sleep does our body good. On Paul’s list it’s up there with nakedness and being beaten.
We should have a weekly rest from our daily work, and that is good for us physically (that’s from creation) and spiritually (that’s from salvation). But what do we do, to rest?
