Day 18 โ What not to do (work)
“๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐บ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฐ.” ๐๐ฆ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ 5:14 ๐๐๐
Today, work doesnโt stop when you leave your workplace – technology brought about instant communication, bringing work right to you through emails and WhatsApp. I am not aware of a single person who does not have a work-related WhatsApp group or some form of after-hours communication. Retail hours have been gradually extended during the last century, and what used to be a 6-day retail trade has merged into 7 days. Slowly but surely, this beautiful command of rest has been corrupted.
With the amalgamation of our work and personal time, it is easy to understand why we have a hard time honoring the Sabbath and setting healthy boundaries when it comes to our time.
So, what are we not supposed to do on the Sabbath? The answer is really simple: work! Scripture teaches that we have been given 6 days to complete our work for the week, and on the 7th day, we should refrain from doing any work. This includes your profession, part-time, and side hustles. Whether you work for yourself or someone else, working should be put out of your mind for the day, and your focus should be on the Sabbath. Also, having someone work for you. Not your family, those serving you, or your guests โ they should rest as you do.
It takes some getting used to, because the moment you focus your mind on rest and honouring the Sabbath, you actually realise how much you keep yourself busy with in the time created for you to pause, rest, and Sabbath.
Prayer: Father, please help us to cultivate a habit of resting and honouring the Sabbath. I pray for those with a 7-day work cycle and ask that You will teach them how to honor You. Teach us healthy time management and professional boundaries so the Sabbath comes as naturally to us as working. Amen.
