How to Prevent Burnout God's Way

You might think the Fourth Commandment is about resting, but you'd be wrong.

Well, half wrong.

The Sabbath commandment is as much (if not more) about work as it is about rest. It admonishes both the sloth and workaholic.

The Ewan (cc)

Throughout my own life I have wavered back and forth through these extremes. I went through pendulum swings of productivity and inaction.

In high school I spent most of my free time playing video games.

As I entered my second semester of college I had transitioned into an almost full-fledged workaholic. I had a couple of part time jobs, was going to school full-time and regularly updated a blog. All the while I was trying to maintain a long distance relationship with my future wife.

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Driving to work one day, something struck me so poignantly that I nearly had to stop the car.

It was a cool fall morning.

The leaves had turned colors overnight. Light rain gave a welcome reprieve from the dry sizzling summer we had just endured.

I was a bit bleary eyed—not unusual despite the strong cup of black coffee I had swallowed in the moments prior my departure.

I fiddled with the radio, trying to find a station not airing commercials.

A school bus passed by in the voluminous roar of its massive engine. Turning a corner, I headed west only to be struck by the magnificent:

Why Keeping the Sabbath is Easier Than You Think

Keeping the Sabbath is easy:

Go outside, and watch the sunset.

Hold an infant. Pick a flower. Pet a dog.

You see, remembering the Sabbath means reflecting on God’s creation.

Is Working on the Sabbath a Sin?

Working on the Sabbath is not necessarily a sin.

Jesus said so himself.

Photo Credit: Alexander Baxevanis (creative commons)

In response to criticism of His disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath He says:

Haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? Matthew 12:5

How can this be? I thought that priests were holy. How did they desecrate the Sabbath?

Why Throwing Away Your Traditions Is Sometimes the Best Way to Honor God

It was a Sunday afternoon when I received the phone call.

Someone needed help moving.

I remember thinking, But Sunday is my day of rest. If there’s anything I hate more than moving, it is moving on a Sunday. Sundays are when I eat too much and then sleep it off on the couch; they’re not for moving.

Alex Dugger (CC)

I was placing a higher value on my own needs rather than on someone else’s. I had determined that anything I did not want to do was work. And God forbid I work on the Sabbath. 

Literally.

The Pharisees did the same.