R & R a.k.a. Sabbath

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

Blog Number 31

September 14, 2020

R & R a.k.a. Sabbath

I am back from my vacation and now my weekly blogs have begun again. I hope that you missed reading them as much as I missed writing them.

I never had the honor of serving in our military but I have the pleasure of knowing a great number of veterans as well as a few active duty soldiers. I asked a few of them what their greatest memory of military service is often they tell me, “R&R,” that is “Rest & Relaxation.” This is the time when they are allowed to take a vacation from their duty and simply relax and have their bodies and minds reset from their daily duty and grind.

This reminds me of what God requires of his people. In his commandments he requires a sabbath day, one in seven in which we will not work. How many of us have taken such days. Often we congratulate ourselves and our co-workers for working too many days and too many hours. The results, however, wear us down and keep us from performing at our peak capacity. Rest is good for us; body, mind and spirit.

One of the positive benefits of the Corona Virus is that it is helping us to reset ourselves. Working from home has enabled many people to avoid stressful commuting, and to shorten the daily hours of their labor. In short, a slower pace has been very good for many people.

And yet, our corona-imposed sabbaths have given us a partial, but not the full blessing that God intends for us. The Sabbath that God gave to us is not just a day of rest, it is also a day dedicated to God. It is a day to be worshipful and thankful to God. Treating ourselves well, is good. We are, after all, God’s creations who deserve to be treated well. We would treat ourselves better if we would include God in our Sabbath. Do we only care for our bodies and minds during our rest or will we nurture our spirits as well?

May this time of Corona be a time to re-set from our stressful lives. Let us learn to have a slower pace, enjoy family and friends more, but let us not forget God. The more we worship him, and the closer we are to him, the deeper our spiritual reservoir will be. It is that reservoir that will help us to navigate the stressors of our lives.

R & R is good. Let us not neglect it but let us not neglect God in it either.