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Sabbaths - More Needed

It's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged (April 19)...not an excuse, nor an apology...just a fact.
There's been a lot happening of late and so life has been fairly packed full and busy.  We arrived back home from our trip to England with a flurry of activity.  Linda keeps child-care for our granddaughter, Iris.  Which is a pure delight to see and have around two days a week.  Along with that we kept our grandkids, Jack and Leo for the last weekend...again, a great delight; but I bless all of you parents out there - I forgot how tired one can get in a normal day of children.

Along with these things life in our church fellowship is never dull.  Our church - New Life Fellowship - is to me a joy, and even though pastoring is a job, I enjoy the people I get to see week in and week out.  As I currently teach through the Gospel of Luke, I get to dive into the scripture with them and be honest about what works for me and what doesn't.  The level of grace that allows anyone to be them-self has to be high and this place has that.

My other "job" in life is to serve as Academic Dean of Christian Life College in Madison.  This small Christian college is spiritually, intellectually, a great challenge.  I was blessed with a great class last semester - and part of the busy life I've been living has come from the end of the semester projects I needed to grade and the final grades I needed to get posted.

SO...
I've been busy...lots of good things.
Yesterday I was cleaning up some things and I started realizing that I've been doing lots of "Martha" things of late...not many "Mary" things.

Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,
42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Don't get me wrong, I love Martha...in fact, I relate to her a lot!  I love being busy, and I love the projects, the working, the doing, the completing satisfaction part of life...now, my confession:  I love those things a whole lot more than the sitting still at the Lord's feet.

This morning I awoke with a thought from the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 4:4 (NIV)
4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."
and again, a few verses later:  Hebrews 4:9-11 (NIV) 
9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;
10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

Does it strike you as it does me that we are to "make every effort to enter that rest"....
Who says entering into rest is easy?
Like all of God's things we are called to "enter" into...to be intentional, and to make the effort.
Resting is a part of our life - and not just in sleep.
Resting is God's antidote to a "presumptive belief of our own importance".

We need more Sabbaths not less.
Peace

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