It is not only a sin to not take a Sabbath, but it’s also foolish!
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It was early morning as he sat on the edge of his bed, head in hands and heart heavy. His workload had increased tenfold, at least, over the past 6 months. Pressure to deliver was mounting. People were placing undue expectations upon him like never before. It was a good thing that business had improved, but along with increased production came increased workload. Joe was at the end of his tether. He’d been working 7 days a week for months and had run out of fuel. Hot tears well up in his tired eyes, and he began to sob uncontrollably. Never before had he felt this way. Joe was on the verge of crashing.
Matthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest
On January 25, 1990, Avianca Flight 52 from Colombia crashed just 15 miles short of New York’s Kennedy International Airport, killing 73 passengers. Reason: the plane just ran out of fuel. International regulations require an airliner to carry enough fuel to reach its destination as well as its assigned alternate, plus enough extra fuel to handle at least 45 minutes of delays. The Avianca pilots had requested a “priority landing” but should have used the phrase “emergency landing”. Due to heavy traffic and bad weather conditions, the ill-fated plane was placed on a holding pattern until it simply ran out of fuel.
Have you ever reached the point that Joe reached on that formidable morning, overworked, fatigued and burnt out? God has not created us to work 7 days a week at the expense of family and health. Apart from the obvious effects of stress on the heart and digestive system, research reveals that stress can cause, among other diseases, asthma, obesity and Alzheimer’s disease. Avianca Flight 52 crashed because it ran out of fuel. In other words, the plane worked so hard for so long that it had nothing left in reserve to safely deliver its precious cargo to its destination.
God has given you a precious cargo, too. You have a life that he created to honour him and a family who need you to be strong and secure. Jesus once said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” The Lord God created the universe in six days and then rested on the seventh. God is not a man that he should require rest (he neither slumbers nor sleeps), but he set us the example of the Sabbath for us so that we might rest. He commanded, “Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.” It is not only a sin to not take a Sabbath, but it’s also foolish! Jesus also told us to come to him when we’re weary, and then he would give us rest. You see, if we yoke up with Christ, then we will be both productive and rested.
God-tracking is taking a God-given Sabbath rest. Beware of burnout!
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Mark 2:27-28
Psalm 121
Genesis 2:2
Exodus 20:9-10
Matthew 11:28-30
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You can track God’s plans for your life with Dudley Anderson, the author of Tracking the Will of God . This post is part of Dudley’s weekly GodTracker devotional series. You can also listen to his GodTracker podcast.
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GodTracker is a weekly e-mail Christian motivational thought, written by Dudley Anderson, based on the premise that God has a plan for our lives. His Word calls us to seek his plan by acknowledging him in all our ways and by tracking his purposes, in faith. Most of what you’ll read is based upon the author’s personal experience of tracking the plans of God.
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