Make Time to Rest

MAKE TIME TO REST

Today's reading comes from Genesis 2.

On the seventh day, he rested from all his work. -Genesis 2:2

I was driving to lunch yesterday out on Huntsville Highway and couldn't help but notice something. It appeared that there were more people at Fayetteville Fitness Center than the Mexican Restaurant next door. It's New Year's resolution time and the number one resolution of many must be "eat less and exercise more."

Now this may come as a surprise to you considering how muscular I appear to the naked eye, but I don't work out. Ivana, on the other hand, faithfully exercises. And one of the things that I've learned from her is the importance of rest in between weightlifting sets. Rest too long and your workouts lose intensity; rest too little and you burn out too quickly. Your muscles need time to recover from the effort of lifting heavy weights.

I don't know if you've made any resolutions for the new year. But I know that you've got things that you'd like to do in 2012. Why not write that book you've been saying you're going to write? Take that cruise you've been planning to take. Go back to school and get that degree that you've been saying you're going to get. Join the gym. Become an Ole Miss fan (joining a gym is much better for your health than becoming an Ole Miss fan). I don't know what your goals are for the year, but you probably have some...and you definitely need some.

May I suggest one important goal to add to your list? Rest. Now beware: if you rest too much, you'll get lazy. But if you don't rest enough, you'll burn out.

Want to be a good parent? Want to be a good spouse? Want to be a good boss? Want to be a good employee? Want to be an effective follower of Jesus? Then work hard at it, but make time to rest. If God observed a day of rest, you should too.