Embrace Productive Rest<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pastor Don Carpenter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Redeeming Your Time \/ Mark 6:30\u201332; Mark 3:1\u20134<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. \u201cThat depends,\u201d replied the foreman. \u201clet\u2019s see you fell this tree.\u201d The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great ree. Impressed, the foreman said, \u201cStart Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday rolled by, and by Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, \u201cYou can pick up your paycheck on the way out today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Startled the young man replied, \u201cI though you paid on Friday.\u201d \u201cNormally we do,\u201d answered the foreman, \u201cbut we\u2019re letting you go today because you have fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you dropped from first place on Monday to last on Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m a hard worker,\u201d the young man objected. \u201c I arrive first, leave last, and even have worked through my coffee breaks!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The foreman, sensing the boy\u2019s integrity thought for a minute and then asked, \u201cHave you been sharpening you axe?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The young man replied, \u201cI\u2019ve been working too hard to take the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes we get so busy we forget to sharpen our axe \u2013 the result is that we lose the ability to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have been with us for the last three weeks, you have come a long way and hopefully feel more confident about redeeming your time. A quick recap for those who may have missed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Ephesians 5:15-17, God commands us to \u201credeem the time.\u201d Why? So that we can do \u201cthe will of the Lord.\u201d We\u2019ve been looking at seven principles from the life of Jesus as an example of how we can redeem our time. Here\u2019s a quick summary of where we\u2019ve been so far:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
? Principle #1: Start with the Word<\/p>\n\n\n\n
? Principle #2: Let Your Yes Be Yes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
? Principle #3: Dissent From the Kingdom of Noise<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Principle #4: Prioritize Your Yeses<\/p>\n\n\n\n
? Principle #5: Accept Your Unipresence<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When thinking about time management and to-do lists, it is so easy to get overwhelmed. We have so much to do, so many things coming at us from all directions, so many responsibilities. It can seem like an impossible task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthew 11:28\u201330<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Embrace Productive Rest<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n – To redeem our time in the model of our Redeemer, we must embrace the God-designed rhythms of rest which are counterintuitively productive for our goals and our souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We live in a \u201chustle\u201d culture. If you want to get more done, the world will often tell you to \u201cwork harder,\u201d \u201cburn the midnight oil,\u201d or \u201csleep when you\u2019re dead.\u201d But the biblically-based, scientifically-verified truth is that rest is a counterintuitive key to being wildly productive. In order to do more, most of us need to do less and rest more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what are these God-designed rhythms? Where do we see Jesus implementing these examples of rest?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Daily Breaks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark 6:30\u201332<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The disciples had been working hard, teaching and ministering to the people. While our culture would say, just teach one more sermon, reach one more person…Jesus recognized that what his disciples really needed and what was going to be best for everyone was rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of us treat our days as sprints\u2014going as hard and fast as we can until we finally collapse in the afternoon. This is just not how God designed us to run. God created us to operate not as if we\u2019re in a sprint or a marathon but a workout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, stick with me here, because I\u2019m going to get a bit scientific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scientists have discovered that God has hardwired us to \u201cpulse\u201d every other hour in what are called ultradian cycles. Essentially, our brains move from higher to lower levels of alertness every ninety minutes. At the end of that ninety-minute cycle, our brain needs a break. Ultradian cycles are our body\u2019s way of demanding we work for ninety minutes, rest for fifteen to thirty, and start all over again, repeating the cycle on a bi-hourly basis throughout the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This seems like a colossal waste of time, but I dare you to give it a try. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if these brief rests ironically help you get more and better work done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nightly Sleep<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The second rhythm is sleep. Although we see Jesus getting up early to spend time with his Father, we also see him prioritizing sleep. In the passage about Jesus calming the storm, we often skip over the part where Jesus was sleeping: Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, \u201cTeacher, don\u2019t you care if we drown?\u201d (Mark 4:38)<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you skip back up to the beginning of the chapter, you see that it had been a long day of teaching for Jesus. So when they got on the boat that evening, Jesus was getting his rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know what many of you are thinking – how many hours of sleep do we need? It doesn\u2019t say in scripture how many hours of sleep Jesus got, so we will leave this one to the scientists:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours of sleep per night for adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, but what happens if I don\u2019t get the recommended amount of sleep? Who really cares?<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Matthew Walker, a renowned sleep expert, a failure to get adequate sleep is worse for your performance than \u201can equivalent absence of food or exercise\u201d or showing up to work drunk. In addition, \u201croutinely sleeping less than six or seven hours a night demolishes your immune system, more than doubling your risk of cancer\u2026[and] contributes to all major psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, and suicidality.\u201d[1]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yikes. Now that I have your attention, here are some benefits to getting an adequate amount of sleep:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can concentrate better at work and at home. You perfect skills you\u2019ve learned throughout the day when you are asleep. According to studies, more sleep = more potential income. Your creative problem-solving skills are enhanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are great benefits, and ones that you have probably experienced in your own life after a great night\u2019s sleep. But ultimately, why does this matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember how we started our series\u2014in Ephesians 5:15-17, God commands us to \u201credeem the time.\u201d Why? So that we can do \u201cthe will of the Lord.\u201d I hope you can see now that nightly sleep makes us more productive as we work on behalf of God\u2019s agenda in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n D.A. Carson, the theologian and co-founder of The Gospel Coalition, once said that, \u201cYou are morally obligated to try to get the sleep you need. Sometimes the godliest thing you can do in the universe is get a good night\u2019s sleep\u2014not pray all night, but sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022\t[1] Walker, Why We Sleep, 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 127:2<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows: For so he giveth his beloved sleep.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 3:5<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 4:8<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: For thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jeremiah 31:26<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Upon this I awaked, and beheld; And my sleep was sweet unto me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sabbath Principle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve talked about taking breaks throughout your day and getting good sleep. And now we come to a rhythm that you have probably all heard of, but maybe don\u2019t fully embrace or understand: Sabbath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So many people view Sabbath as a boring, legalistic, life-sucking chore, and for somewhat good reasons. In Mark chapter 3, Jesus appears to agree that some had turned Sabbath into something other than the life-giving gift God had designed it to be. Check it out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark 3:1\u20134<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk about life-sucking legalism\u2014literally. Here the Pharisees were criticizing Jesus for doing something life-giving because it didn\u2019t adhere to the letter of the law of Sabbath. But notice that Jesus didn\u2019t say the law is irrelevant. He said the Pharisees were completely missing the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark 2:27<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n What did Jesus mean by that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A quick history of Sabbath: The first Sabbath day was the seventh day of creation. Genesis 2:2-3 says, \u201cBy the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.\u201d Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s interesting to note that Sabbath is the first \u201choly\u201d object in history. On the previous six days, God saw everything he had made and deemed it \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cvery good.\u201d But Sabbath was the first thing God called holy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OK, so God rested, thus creating the first Sabbath day. But it\u2019s not until Mount Sinai that God commands the Israelites to imitate his rhythm of working for six days and resting one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exodus 20:8\u201311<\/em> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So Sabbath is about mimicking God\u2019s rhythm of work and rest, taking a break to simply enjoy him and the good things he\u2019s given us through our work. But it\u2019s also about something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider the context of when The Ten Commandments were handed down to Moses. These commandments were given just weeks after Israel\u2019s exodus from Egypt where they had been in slavery for more than 400 years. That\u2019s more than four centuries worth of backbreaking work under the hands of ruthless slave masters screaming \u201cGet back to your work!\u201d (Exodus 5:4) and \u201cMake the work harder.\u201d (Exodus 5:9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n So yes, Sabbath is about stepping back and saying of our work and lives this is \u201cvery good,\u201d but it is also about saying no to the tyranny of more. It\u2019s about declaring our freedom from slavery. It\u2019s an invitation to \u201cstop,\u201d which is the literal meaning of the Hebrew word shabbat. Stop working, stop striving, stop hustling. Just stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sounds pretty life-giving in the midst of our modern day \u201chustle\u201d culture, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n OK, so God rests and commands the Israelites to do the same. Now is when we get into trouble. Over time, God\u2019s people take the good gift of Sabbath and regulate it more than the federal government, adding more than 1,500 rules of what you could and could not do on God\u2019s holy day.[1] With the addition of all these man-made rules and regulations, Sabbath, which God created to be life-giving, had become life-draining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So that\u2019s the historical backdrop of the exchange we read a few minutes ago between Jesus and the Pharisees. When Jesus said that Sabbath is \u201cfor man\u201d he was reminding us that Sabbath is not about keeping hundreds of rules. It is about enjoying God and his good gifts and declaring that we are no longer slaves to sin, Egypt, employers, clients, marketers, email, smartphones, or the constant demands for more. We are free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t you see? Sabbath is a gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What could Sabbath look like for you? What would it look like for you to cease and feast on the Lord, his Word, and the good gifts he has given you and your family this week? I\u2019d encourage you to spend some time really thinking that through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, so we see the impact these rhythms can have on our lives and productivity. Since these rhythms are God-designed, and we see Jesus following them in scripture, we should take notice of how they impact our souls as well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taking bi-hourly breaks throughout your workday is productive for your soul because it reminds you that God doesn\u2019t need you to finish your to-do list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Getting a full night\u2019s sleep is productive for your soul because it reminds you that God is the only being who neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4) and thus doesn\u2019t need you or me to keep the world spinning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sabbath is productive for your soul because it reminds you that \u201call time belongs to God and stands under the renewing lordship of Jesus Christ.\u201d[2]<\/p>\n\n\n\n And ultimately, all of these rhythms of rest are productive for your soul because they are a means of preaching the gospel to yourself and those around you. Rest is a way of reminding ourselves that no matter how productive we are, no matter how many \u201cgood works\u201d we accomplish, we are God\u2019s beloved children in whom he is well pleased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:58 PM January 26, 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Embrace Productive Rest Pastor Don Carpenter Redeeming Your Time \/ Mark 6:30\u201332; Mark 3:1\u20134 A Young man approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. \u201cThat depends,\u201d replied the foreman. \u201clet\u2019s see you fell this tree.\u201d The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great ree. Impressed, the foreman said, … Continue reading Embrace Productive Rest<\/span>