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24/7 Work v Rest

What a great message we heard on Sunday at Church! Simon preached on Sabbath, and really helped us understand the need for a sabbath rest. Sabbath isn't a religious observence or simply "going to Church". Sabbath is STOP and REST - it's time for a hobby; time for spiritual contemplation and time for physical rest.
One of the things that stops us resting and stopping is our attitude to work and achievement. As a culture, we value work, and find it very hard to say we have done "enough". But, as Simon pointed out, God was satisfied at the end of Day 1 of creating the world, and He rested ...nuff said!
I find it hard to stop working for a number of reasons - one being that I can write emails at work, at home, in bed(!) - anywhere, anytime. Another being my sense of achievement and value - I can be quite task-driven. Another being that there's just so much to DO!!!
I hope you enjoy this extract from the Girltalk blog written by Carolyn Mahaney - it struck a chord with me, and my daily "to do" lists. Whatever stage of life you're in right now, each of us needs to find a time in the day when we draw a line and say we've done enough work and that it's ok to stop.


"When CJ leaves for work at the end of the day, he tells Tony, his assistant, and Nora, his secretary: “We’ll try again tomorrow,”

That’s short for: “Well friends, we worked hard today, but once again we failed to accomplish everything we hoped. Maybe we even made mistakes, used poor judgment, or experienced setbacks. We are frail and finite creatures. Only God gets His to-do list done. And only God does it perfectly, every day. So, let’s humbly acknowledge our weakness and insufficiency in contrast to His strength and sovereignty. But let’s not give up in despair. If God wills, let’s come back tomorrow and by His grace, do our best to serve Him faithfully, for His glory!”
Let’s try again tomorrow."

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