Take a Break. That is easy to say and difficult to do. When I got home after the service, I had to lookup more information about the torn ACL data and the number of hours Americans work per week. Geoff talked about our persistence to keep working, keep going, and keep exercising such that a torn ACL has increased by 400%! The age group with the highest occurrence of this injury is with 20 to 29-year-olds. They keep going with their sports and activities, however, the expected recovery time from surgery is six to nine months. They are forced to slow down. They have to take a break and rest.
Next, I looked up the average number of hours per week that Americans work. On average, we work 34.4 hours. The average for people aged 25 to 54 years is 40.5 hours per week, and yet men work 41 hours. Women work 36.4 hours but spend one more hour than men on household responsibilities. We never stop doing those household chores each week since we need clean clothes, food, a clean house, and shopping.
We have all of these things to think about and do, but God says take a day off and rest. He loves us and cares about us so much that He knows we need some time to rest. The definition of Sabbath says it is a day of religious observance and abstinence from work. Our day off is time to reflect on what we have accomplished and what direction we are going. He wants us to realize who we are with him and with each other.
I loved the prayer at the end of the sermon when Geoff asked Jesus to teach us to be who we are and to rest. Take time this week to rest. (I will have to remind myself to do this as well.) Remember that God loves us!
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