After the Rest

23 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of wheat. 24 But the Pharisees said to Jesus, "They shouldn't be doing that! It's against the law to work by harvesting grain on the Sabbath." 25 But Jesus replied, "Haven't you ever read in the Scriptures what King David did when he and his companions were hungry? 26 He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest), ate the special bread reserved for the priests alone, and then gave some to his companions. That was breaking the law, too." 27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath. 28 And I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath!" - Mark 2:23-28

I wonder if we have the wrong idea about vacation and weekends. My family and I just got back from a week-long vacation at St. Simon's Island. Usually, when I am on vacation, I try to distance myself from anything that resembles a regular week at home. that meant absolutely no work. After all, vacation is a time of relaxing after toiling in labor for many weeks and months (okay, stop laughing, pastors work hard too!). This year though, I did something different. In my down-time, instead of watching mindless programs on the television (we didn't have Internet - yeah, can you believe that) I spent time reading some business related material - not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I also made sure to keep up the discipline of daily devotions (well, for the most part). Here is the funny thing, I didn't dread coming home, or more significantly, getting back to work!

Maybe the idea of sabbath isn't about a reward for your hard work. Maybe it is a time to rest your body from the routine and also provide time for mental refreshment as well as spiritual.
The Pharisees in the text above had a misunderstanding about what could and couldn't be done on the Sabbath. Maybe we need to widen our vision about it too. Instead of the Sabbath or vacations being reactionary, what if we considered them to be proactive - a time of preparing us for what's ahead? It's worth considering. At least this time I am happy and refreshed.

Godspeed,
Tim