8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. – Exodus 20: 8-11
Recently, Brenda posted an updated version of the 10 Commandments from the Contemplative Monk on Facebook. The modern version of the fourth commandment really stuck out to me: “Do not use productivity to dominate life.” This spoke to my soul, as I’m one who crams my life to the brim with activities, work, and my own driven expectations, then says yes to just one more thing.
Maybe because I have lifelong anxiety and can’t slow down. Or I never feel like I’m really doing enough to prove myself. Or I’ve spread myself so thin that I don’t really think I’m serving anyone to the best of my ability. Or I just don’t want to let anyone that I know, love, or care about down by saying no.
Needless to say, I’m completely guilty of letting productivity dominate life. Maybe you are too. Perhaps the pandemic forced you into slowing down, or like me, you just got busier. So, where do we go from here? How can we find a way to celebrate the Sabbath and make it holy? How do we stop productivity from driving our lives?
The world we live in today certainly doesn’t make it easier. With work expectations, club and team sports (when they start up again) forcing students to choose between playing and church activities like Youth Group, family expectations, and social media distractions, there is always something available to fill your time.
Let’s challenge ourselves to fill some of that time worshipping our God, finding sabbath (whether on Sunday morning or whenever you can connect during the week), and releasing the control of productivity. Maybe it starts with 5 minutes here or there. (As the mother of toddlers, that’s probably all the uninterrupted time I can fathom at the start.) Then, may that time and spirit grow into a true sabbath dedicated to rest and worship.
Lord, for some, this pandemic has become a time of true sabbath, turning to God as their lives have slowed down. For others, the rat race has continued or sped up. Thank you for your presence in both scenarios. Through productivity and peace, may we grow closer to you, finding Sabbath by releasing control. Amen.
Emalee