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Viewpoint from Jane Clamp 05/07/2019

Jane Clamp
Jane is the author of Too Soon, a devotional on the subject of miscarriage.  A member of the Association of Christian Writers, she writes for local and national radio. In her spare time she is an interior designer and musician

as published in the Great Yarmouth Mercury

Take a Break

 
It’s that time of year when, for many of us, thoughts turn to holidays. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re a seeker of hot-spots or cold ones; whether you plan a week of adventures or of blissful inactivity. The value of taking a break lies in being somewhere different, spending quality time with your chosen companions – even if that’s yourself! – and switching off from the pressures of everyday life
 
Perhaps you’re thinking that having a holiday is a luxury you cannot afford. Maybe funds are limited or you’re not free to get away because people depend on you. We may have good reasons and excuses for not going on holiday, but there’s a bigger question underneath. How well do you rest during a typical week? You see, if we gallop through life at break-neck speed, sleeping less than we need, eating food that entertains more than it nourishes, one single week or fortnight a year isn’t going to be enough
  
I’m speaking to myself here. I run a full daily schedule of work as well as my household. Meals are often taken ‘on the hoof’ and I don’t get eight hours sleep a night. So, being a Christian, I pray and ask God for wisdom. I open my Bible and find something amazing within a few short pages. That when God created the heavens and earth, with mankind as His best achievement of all, He spent six days on “doing” and the seventh on “being”
 
It’s something we miss, but imagine the scene. Adam and Eve have come alive for the first time and there’s not only a whole new world to explore but they’ve been given a job to do: gardening in the closest place the world has ever got to Paradise. They’re itching to get started on their Day One. But…it’s God’s Day Seven, and He’s called a Day of Rest. The first thing they get to do is relax!
 
So, here’s the thought. Instead of hurtling through life, falling into a holiday, and then getting straight back on the treadmill afterwards, why don’t we think of the Biblical pattern of Sabbath? Resting first, and then working from a place of refreshment. Holidays are great, but God thought of something even better: taking a complete day off every week. After all, we’re human beings not human doings; and Paradise might be nearer home than we think

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