Balancing Work And Rest
Thursday November 7, 2013
You people who don’t want to work, think about the ant! Consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander. It has no leader or ruler. But it stores up its food in summer. It gathers its food at harvest time. Proverbs 6:6-8 (NIRV)
Ants are a lovely object lesson from nature that teaches us about balance in life. Ants work hard. They can carry up to 50 times their weight. They scurry back and forth, seemingly moving in every direction but in actual fact, they are doing this with purpose and diligence. They work hard in the summer and sleep in the winter. There are no leaders or commanders in a group of ants but they do follow the lead or trail of a scout who finds food and sets down a scent path. Ants do the right thing at the right time.
We are taught in the Bible that unless we work with purpose and in a timely manner, when it comes time to harvest we won't have what we need. The ants remind us that there is a time to work and a time to rest. They don't work to work but to provide for their needs. They don't depend on someone else doing all the work, they each carry their own responsibility and by doing so, they gather what they need and have what they require for the long winter. Are we resting when we need to work? Are we over-working because we don't know how to rest or are not satisfied with what we have? Anyone who refuses to work doesn’t plow in the right season. When he looks for a crop at harvest time, he doesn’t find it. Proverbs 20:4 NIRV
For six years plant your fields. Trim the branches in your vineyards and gather your crops. But the seventh year must be a sabbath for the land. The land must rest during it. It is a sabbath year in my honor. Do not plant your fields. Do not trim the branches in your vineyards. Leviticus 25:3-4 (NIRV)
God created for six days and rested on the seventh day. God taught his people to work for six days and then rest; to plant for six years and then give the land rest. God is not a slave driver but God does call us to meaningful and responsible use of our time and talents.
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