Serving a better master: trading busy for rest
As a business owner, I wear many hats. (Actually, I wear all the hats because I don’t have employees.) Like all of you who work in the home or out in the marketplace or ministry, that means there’s always a task that needs doing.
Always.
So, we continue “doing.” The alluring idea of getting ahead of our tasks list (or merely caught up), coupled with devices that make work accessible anywhere, anytime, causes us to work incessantly. But “ahead” and “caught up” are mirages that elude us from the distant horizon.
Perhaps you, like me, enjoy (or are addicted to?) productivity and relish in goal-setting sessions and achievement—all of which make resting a challenge. Yet an inability to rest and take breaks from work makes for a life equivalent to that of an indentured servant, subject to the masters of
- materialism,
- a need for success (as a “perfect” parent or star performer at work),
- the reputational currency of being busy, or
- the exacting requirements of our managers and bosses.
But God doesn’t want us to be enslaved to anything but righteousness and His love:
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Romans 6:18 NIV
The American notion of slavery rightfully bothers us because of its’ roots in racism. Paul recognizes the limitation of his chosen metaphor in verse 19, saying he’s using an everyday example (from his own day and context) that will help the Roman believers understand that having no master isn’t an option—meaning we’ll be slave to one or the other: sin or righteousness.
But Jesus says that being bonded to Him and to righteousness won’t feel like slavery:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
Jesus’ words remind us that without Him, we’d not just be striving daily for our financial, reputational, and professional needs, we’d also be striving to meet God’s standard for righteousness and salvation. Instead, He’s purchased that on our behalf.
Let’s allow the freedom we find in Christ to permeate the other aspects of our lives:
- To trust that our material needs will be sufficiently provided for by God who promises to clothe us. (Matthew 6:30 NIV)
- To fill our need for success and achievement (calibrated with external measures) with a Biblical view of it: “…what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul…” (Deuteronomy 10:12 NIV)
- To recognize busyness not as a badge of honor, but as a potential symptom of relying on our own strength instead of His: “’Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.‘” (John 15:4-5 NIV)
- To work dutifully, honoring God by honoring the authority of those He’s put in positions over us, while also recognizing that He is our ultimate Master: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:22-24 NIV)
When these truths are allowed to shape our thinking about whatever kind of work we do, we’ll have an easier time heeding the biological cues to our need for rest and the spiritual prescription for it. To be clear, this doesn’t mean avoiding our work by bingeing on a favorite show. Rather this change in mindset will help us create the conditions for faithful rest: an expression of trust that God—who Himself rested—will equip us with sufficient time (and abilities… and other resources) to accomplish what He has ordained for our purpose in His plan.
We often overlook this part of our faith development, don’t we? Yet when we rest with conscious awareness of the faith it requires, resting can be a way we know and understand our God better—and even become more like Him.
How might you exercise your faith by resting in the coming days?
For more on rest, click here.