Rest Or Sloth?

‘Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.  Exodus 31:15

A cold and cloudy day yesterday, but the silver lining was that I got the chance to try out my new quilt that is a gift from my sister. Comfy and cozy, I didn't want to get up after lunch and return to work! The quilt was just right for a little early afternoon warm nap. A little rest at the right time is good for us, but how much rest before we are lazy and slothful? One day each week under the law was quite simple: no amount of work was allowed upon pain of death. The Sabbath, 24 hours, one entire day from sunset to sunset. How well have you or I done at doing no work of any kind for a 24 hour period? On the other hand, we might take too many moments on the other six days stretching them into hours when work should be underway. 

It seems a balancing act that is tough to solve. We need rest, but we need work too. If a person has rested so long that a gurney or crane is needed to remove them from the house to the hospital, then yes, most of us can tell that the rest went on too long. Many of us in our lifetime have erred in the other direction and gone to work or school with an illness that should have kept us home resting. Some have even carried out their death penalty by working themselves all the way to that fatal reward. Was he or she selfless to the point of death, or just unwise and driven by guilt and shame to avoid proper rest? We have one of those questions where each of us must go to the Lord and ask Him! 

Praise the Lord for any and all of those questions that bring us to Him and His word for instruction!

Bucky