Live your best life
I recently updated the software on my smart phone and there was a limit set for my “screen time.” A message appeared, asking, “Do you want to ignore limit?”
Hmm, do I?
Do I want to live my life with limits? Do I beleive that limits are good? I have learned that-
Limits are a gift from God
They help us to live our best life.
We like to believe that we can live beyond limits and grab all we can from life. “The sky is the limit!” we say. But our life is full of limits. We each have different amounts of money, energy, or talents. Even our closets or the size our home is a limit.
But have you ever considered that limits are a gift from God? Stop and think about what happens when we walk through life ignoring the limits God has given us. We move beyond capacity and become worn out, physically, mentally and emotionally. It affects our health, our minds, our relationships and our work.
In Genesis 1, we see that God created our universe. He created day and night, giving it a limit of 24 hours. No matter who we are, where we come from or what we do, each one of us is given the same number of hours in a day; no more, less.
When it comes to work, God knew, that in our never-ending hunger for more, we would try to fill every hour and day with as much as we can, never stopping to rest. He was loving and kind enough to give us the gift of limits to our work and He, himself, is our example. Genesis 2:2 says, “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.”
As he created the nation of his chosen people, he provided the same limit and calls for the Sabbath; a day of rest, set apart and holy. “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested.”
Sabbath is to be enjoyed. It reminds us that we are both beloved and dust. “For he knows us, but we are dust.” (Psalm 103:14) Jesus, the greatest gift that God has given us, put on flesh and became dust through his death on the cross so that we can believe that we are his beloved. The cross is not simply where we are saved. It is our place of rest where Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He paid the price for sin, once for all, so that we no longer work and strive to be in right standing with God. Rather, we can rest in the grace offered in the finished work of Jesus.
Jesus brought us back to God and we are loved. When we believe we are loved, we are free to rest. We stop striving, knowing that our Identity is not found in what others say, or what we do, or don’t do. We are not afraid of Sabbath. Many of us have never given ourselves permission to join in this rest that is offered, and the idea seems foreign and even frightening. Have you ever worried about who will do ‘all the things’ if you stop and rest?
So how do we return to the place of rest? How do we embrace our limits and let go of the illusion that we are indispensable? The truth is we are not needed. Remember, we are but dust. But the good news is, we are wanted. Knowing that we are loved and wanted changes the lens of how we view the limits God created helping us to recognize them for the gift they are.
Our world will look like the Kingdom of God that Jesus spoke about when we live as loved children. When we believe that limits are a gift from a good and loving God that says to us, “You are my beloved and you are enough.”
In Jeremiah 16, the Lord says, “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it and find rest for your souls.” Sabbath is as ancient as the beginning of creation. It is the good way that God wants us to walk in and it is where God provides rest for our souls.
Could you use some rest for your soul? God cares about your soul and created ways for us to give our soul the care it needs. He wants us to stop our work and rest and to engage in activities that restore and replenish us.
Taking time for Sabbath rest has transformed my life. I like to use the acronym S.W.O.R.D. to help me to be mindful of continuing to delight in the gift of God’s rest:
Stop Working
Observe
Rest
Delight
Stop working - Sabbath is first and foremost a day of stopping. “To stop” is literally the meaning of the Hebrew word Sabbath. Yet most of us can’t stop. There’s always one more goal to be reached before stopping.
But on Sabbath I embrace my limits. God is God and I am his. This is the most important relationship in our lives, and it needs time. I realized how easy it is to skim on my time with God and then to do things that he never asked me to do.
In Matthew 11, Jesus shares words that could be speaking to many of us today. “Are you tired? Worn out from religion? Come to me. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me. Watch how I do it.
Faithfully observing Sabbath is not to become legalistic. What about people who work on Sundays? Or when you have a sick family member or small children? Jesus observed Sabbath but he also healed the sick on the Sabbath. What might be work for you may be different for someone else and that’s ok.
Sabbath is less about the day, and more about our heart. The key is to set a regular rhythm.
You might start with just one night; light a candle, say a prayer, shut off your phone and go to bed early. It’s the beginning of a new habit and our habits create our lives. They must start before they can be improved!
Observe – Take time to observe what God is showing you. Observe scripture. What is God speaking? What is God teaching you? Journaling is a great way to capture your thoughts and the things God is speaking to your heart. Even if you start with just one word.
God is always speaking but we need to stop long enough to observe what he is saying. I am also aware how much joy there is in my life when I stop work to be with God; to worship him and to observe what He is saying and doing. I notice that I am better at loving others. Most importantly I able to love myself when I rest and when I delight.
Rest – Once we stop, we accept God’s invitation to rest. God rested after his work of creation and he invited us to do the same every seventh day.
He wants us to have activities that restore and replenish us. Some of us need an earlier bedtime and a nap. But for others, rest is hiking, reading, or making and eating good food. Resting from unpaid work involves some planning but you will find that being intentional about taking time to rest will not diminish your productivity, but rather, enhance it!
Delight – Finally, on Sabbath, we Delight. When was the last time you spent a whole restful day enjoying yourself or found yourself taking true delight in anything? Have you ever watched a small child take sheer delight in something? It fills us with joy and makes us smile. God feels the same way when he sees us, his creation and children, delighting in the things he has given us.
God loves us so much he wants us to slow down, pay attention, observe and worship and rest. After finishing his work of creation, God pronounced it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). It was a joyful celebration and he invites us to do the same. He invites us to join in the celebration; to enjoy and delight in his creation and the gifts he offers us, through people, places and things.
What give you joy and delight? Is it going to the ocean? Or perhaps hiking in the mountains, having people around a table playing games, a long drive with good music, a city lit up at night, or maybe just curling up with a good book. Whatever it is, make time to delight!
You are already enough and so loved. Choose to believe that God loves you and is for you. Accept his invitation and receive his gift of limits. Embrace his gift of Sabbath!
