a purposeful example

It's quiet. It's early. The cat and dog are curled up happily nearby. My children are still tucked in warm upstairs. It's just me, the sound of the pecking keys and the purr of the furnace. It's Monday morning. Soon the day will start, the week will start and tomorrow a new month will start. There will be bills to be payed, housework to do, and phone calls to make. But for now, I will rest.

'And God blessed them. And God said to them,

"Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth

and subdue it and have dominion over 

the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens

and over every living thing that moves on earth."

And God said,

"Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed

that is on the face of all the earth,

and every tree that with seed in its fruit.

And to every beast of the earth and to every bird 

of the heavens and to everything that creeps

on the earth, everything that has the breath of life,

I have given every green plant for food."

And it was so. 

And God saw everything He had made, and behold it was very good. And that was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and keep it.'

Genesis 1:28-31, 2:15

As much as we love it or hate it, God created us to work. Before that however, God created us for Himself and His glory. In the middle of Genesis 2, you will find God giving Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, their work assignment. As we set about our work as God has gifted us and equipped us to do, we honor and glorify Him. As you read through Genesis 1 and 2, I think it is really important to see that first, God is a God of order and purpose. He is very intentional in His actions and His method by which He created all that is. Each of the six days of creation, God had a specific task at hand and when it was finished, He stepped back, assessed it and called it good. As we set about our week, it is important to be intentional. There lie ahead of us a multitude of tasks to be sure. While this can be overwhelming, it can bring peace and clarity when we step back and look at the example that the very Creator set forth for us to follow.

God took it one day at a time, one task at a time. Did He have to do this? Certainly not. He is God and has no limits. He is not confined to a human mind, human body or the plague of time the same way we are. And yet, in spite of this, He still took performed Creation one day at a time. Jesus Christ Himself said as is recorded in the book of Matthew chapter 6, "therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (v 34). Someone once said,  'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a present.' We are only guaranteed this moment. While planning and plodding for the future has their place, it is important to remember God's example as well as His command about anxiety. One day and one task at a time.

When a day and task was complete, He took time to step back, assess it and call it good. It is important that we take joy in the work of our hands. The God given talents and abilities to set about a task and complete it is truly magnificent, and we are called to take joy in that. By doing so and recognizing that every ability and gift is from above (James 1:17) we glorify Him and find our ultimate fulfillment.

'Thus the heavens and the earth were finished.

and all the host with them.

And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done,

and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,

because on it, 

God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.'

Genesis 2:1-3

Finally, God rested. Again, did He need to rest? No. The Bible says that God does not grow weary, He will neither slumber nor sleep (Psalm 121:4, Isaiah 40:28). Then why did God take the time to rest? To set forth an example. We have a God complex. From the beginning of time and creation, you see humanity wrestling with this. Take a look at Adam and Eve and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why did they eat the fruit? To be like God--to BE God. (Genesis 3:4-6). Since the beginning of time, we wrestle with and despise our limitations. While much good has come from this, it is important to remember that God has given limitations so we will depend on Him and follow His instruction for our lives. My children have a little 50cc 4 Wheeler. It is a model from the 80's and is a 2 stroke--which means it is capable of high speeds. (It was manufactured before the big push for helmets, airbags or car seats...you know, when we were kids ;) My husband created a throttle stop for it so when the kids are on it, it is only capable of going a safe speed. He didn't do this because he hates them or wants to deprive them of anything, just the opposite in fact. He did this because as an adult, he is aware of their ignorance and knows that they can not safely handle the high speeds even though they think they can. God has dealt with us in the same way. He has put forth limitations for us, to preserve us, to protect us and create within us a hunger to know Him and rely on Him.

Rest is something I struggle with. Growing up, my mother struggled with depression and she slept a lot. To this day, I will not take a nap unless I am almost dead from illness or fatigue. I grew up seeing sleep as laziness and the easy way out.  While this can be true when sleep and rest are abused, it is important to know that God, in His goodness, truly did think of everything when He set about the magnificence of His creation. There is a time and place for rest just as there is a time and place for work. There must be balance and there must be both. It is important that we work hard and are diligent about the task before us, take time to assess it and take joy in it and then take time to rest and reconnect. It is then and only then that we truly glorify God and understand the simple beauty in the purposeful example He graciously set out for us.
Blessings to you dear friend, as you set about your work, take joy in it and rest this week.
<><tce