Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to a wonderful group at Truth in Love Counseling on living out our faith at work. This is part 2 of a five-part series inspired by that talk.
The workplace changed significantly from the time I first joined it, primarily due to technology. There was no email or smartphones, and there were standard beginning and endings to the workday when I began my career at State Farm. In the building I worked at they had chimes to start and end the workday and for lunch breaks. But today, workers are always connected. And many believers use Sunday to catch up on work that has built up from the previous week.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that the Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting from unnecessary labors. The concept of rest, in our always connected world, is a subject that would also be a good one for us to teach about in our families and churches. My longtime pastor, Bob Smart, tells us that until we learn to deeply rest and separate ourselves from our work, we won’t work effectively. If you want to know more about intentionally setting Sunday apart for God and His work, see my article, “Ceasing and Feasting”. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Sabbath rest
Why You Should Rest on Sundays
Ask how someone is doing these days and you’ll often hear “Busy, really busy”. I don’t doubt it. We seem to have more to do and less time to do it in. And the older we get, when we get home during the week, we’re tired, and we just want to have dinner, and maybe relax a little with that TV program we’ve been binge-watching. That leaves the weekend to catch up on other things that need to get done – yard work, laundry, shopping, home repairs, etc.
The creation story tells us that God finished the work He had done and rested on the seventh day. He blessed that day and made it holy. As we are made in His image, we should rest on Sunday as well.
The workplace changed significantly from the beginning to the end of my career, primarily due to technology. There was no email, no smartphones and there were standard beginning and endings to the workday when I began my career. The organization I worked at even had chimes to start and end the day and for lunch break. Now, workers are always connected. And many, including Christians, use Sunday to catch up on work that has built up from the previous week. In addition, many youth sports traveling teams compete on Sundays, often conflicting with worship services.
What does the Bible say about activities on Sunday? Continue reading