How do you prevent burnout in your life? How do you prevent getting into that cycle where you are just working, working, working and you are clawing your way to the end of the term, the year, to the next holiday that comes along? How can we live each day to the full? I want us to look at that and God's command, as we continue reading in the ten commandments. And we come to the fourth commandment in Exodus 12:8.
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
Here we have a reminder that we can have a break and have a blessing and we might not end up in that terrible cycle that leads to burnout in our lives. The first question to ask is: what is a blessing? So often in Christian circles, we talk about a blessing but what does a blessing mean? For me, one of the best examples is a bar of chocolate called a KitKat. The Kit kat for me is a reminder. For many years they had the logo “have a break, have a KitKat.” The idea there is that you stop what you're doing and have something sweet. But the KitKat is an interesting bar of chocolate because if you look at the inside of a KitKat there's a dry wafer. That dry wafer isn't much to taste or look at, but wrapped around that wafer is all this juicy chocolate that makes KitKat delicious. In the same way, God says, life is dry. The work we do can be dry and boring and there's a lot of sweat and difficulty attached to work, but He will bless it. He will put the “chocolate” around it in a sense and make it as tasty as it should be if we will trust Him. If we will do things His way and rest. Then He can bless us. So we need to have a break, that we might have a blessing. So what does God command us to do in this fourth commandment of the ten commandments?
The first thing He says is to remember the day. Remember the day! That word “remember” means let it loom up before you. Don't just remember it as a vague memory but remember it as in make it be the focus of your life. I remember my marriage day. The day I married and every day when I look at this ring on my finger, I'm reminded of the beautiful bride that God gave me. I'm reminded of the day that she said, “I do” and I said “I do.” We have been doing what God has given us to do for 31 years now by His grace. For 31 years this little ring has reminded me of that beautiful beginning of married life. Likewise, in all the hours that make up a week of seven days God says, remember the day.
What is the day? It is the Sabbath day we ought to remember. It is to be distinct from all other days. It's a day to rest. It's a day that God made and it is a 24-hour period.
In the Jewish calendar, it would start on a Friday night and go all the way through to a Saturday sundown. In our calendar, we've gone with a Sunday because usually for most Christians we celebrate the Lord's resurrection. The Sabbath day is a day that we set apart to be with God, to remember His day. That one day we've set apart out of all the seven days to rest and to be in His presence as Jesus taught us. This day has been made for us to rest. It's God's gift to us. It's the chocolate around the wafer. The dry wafer of work that He gives us is to be coated in rest for 24 hours. Jesus who invited us, said, “come to Me all you who are weary and heavily laden and I will give you rest.” He promises us rest. The way He gives us rest is through that one day in seven that we do not work but we focus on Him, and we remember the day.
Further on in this verse says to “keep it holy.” We keep it holy which means to keep it separate, to guard it, and protect it. To put it aside from all the other six days. It is to be separate for our benefit and the glory of God. God is saying to you: “Stop!” If you don't want to have a breakdown, if you don't want to fall apart, if you don't want to have your life in a mess, running like a gerbil in a wheel, if you want to prevent burnout, then relax, stop and rest one day out of seven.
It's interesting that when people do have burnout and they end up in a mental hospital, what do they do? They regulate their times and their sleep. They regulate the rest and they even give them sleep therapy. So that they catch up with all the days of rest that they've missed. And God doesn't want us to end up in hospital. He wants us to be free to serve Him with joy. Six days to work and to labour hard but to rest on one day.
If we to keep it separate, we will see that God has blessed it. I remember growing up in South Africa in the 1970s and every shop was closed on a Sunday. Then the cafés opened and then the other shops and now almost every shop is open. Even some of the banks. It's just the government departments that haven't yet opened. Although I'm sure some are. It's sad when I look around the world and I look at nations that God has blessed. I see Germany who still keeps a day of rest. I see Austria and I see nations in Europe that God has blessed. And their economies thrive above others. We need to keep it separate. It's for the whole society. A whole family; a whole community; a whole country, should be resting one day and seven.
Secondly, we are to reserve the day. We are to reserve the day for God. We are to focus on God. You say: “Well, what do I do if I just rest? Do I just watch TV all day? No. Perhaps switch off the television. Do without the cell phone, and the media. Focus on God. Spend more time with Him. Go to worship Him, if there's a church that you can go to. Spend time with God and spend time with His people, to be built up. Drive slowly! Move slowly! Just be with God. It's for God. In other words, you cease from your work, to focus on God. Where you have no hurry in your heart.
It's like that little story of the mother who was a harried, tired mother. She tucked her daughter into bed. And her daughter said: “Mom, just lie with me, till I fall asleep.” And her Mom said: “Ah! Okay. I’ll lie with you.” She lay down next to her daughter. And she lay there. “Now, go to sleep!” “Go to sleep!” Eventually, her little daughter squeaked up, and said: “Mom! Lie down.” She said: “I’m lying down. Go to sleep. Now, stop talking.” The daughter said: “Mom, lie down in your heart!” You see, that's what we need to do. You and I need to lie down with God. And reserve the day for God. To still our racing thoughts. To evaluate our week. To look back at what God has done. To trust him for what lies ahead.
As Eugene Peterson puts it: to pray and to play. To pray to God and to get into nature. To go to the park. To walk through a forest. Go to a lake. Hike along the Suikerbosrandt. Just to be with God and to be in his creation. Because he made all of creation in six days, remember! We are refreshed by praying and playing in his creation. We are to reserve the day.
We are to reserve the day from work. That means all work. Anything you do through your week. Maybe you rest from the work that you do at work, at your job. Where you say to your boss: “no more emails. No more answering SMSs. This is a mental health boundary. This is the day that the Lord has made, and I need to focus on Him. That I might give you the remaining six days, and do a good job. When I’m there at work and not too tired to give my best. Too burnt out, too locked up in mental hospitals, to be of benefit to you or the company.” We rest from work. We reserve the day from work. From that work that we do for six days. And notice those six days are to be hard work. We are to work, “as unto Christ.” To labour hard!
That work is all work that is being entrusted to you. Now maybe you have a car you need to wash. Well, you wash it, in the six days. Maybe you have a garden. A new garden. You garden in the six days and you rest from that work. You do what God has called you to do. And I know that you are perhaps thinking: “Oh but the preacher's saying that and he only works one hour on a Sunday and he's working then.” No! I rest one day out of seven. I get to rest on a Wednesday, in my case. But if you’re working in some other business, where you have to work on a Sunday, and the boss gives you another day off, it's not just a day off to do other jobs, it's a day to set apart for God. To be with God. To draw strength from Him. To spend longer time with Him in His Word and talk to Him in prayer. To be built up and if possible to worship with God's people. It is a reserved day, for God.
It's reserved from work and it's reserved for everybody and everything under your influence. If you're a parent and you have children you need to teach them to rest and to enjoy that day. I learned this lesson very early on when I was a young Christian and I was studying. I learned to work hard for six days and even at midnight on Saturday, put down my pen and say that's it. I'm going to rest on Sunday. I’d go to church and sometimes have to write exams at eight o'clock on Monday morning! God enabled me to remember every word that I’d studied and pass that exam. And even do better in those exams, because I’d rested. He honoured that and He blessed that rest. And I’ve seen my children. Four of them have grown up in my home and they have rested from all their homework, all their assignments. They've put down their pen on a Saturday night because they rested on a Sunday and they picked it up on a Monday. And God has blessed them, given them even scholarships, and enabled them to succeed at study.
God has been faithful when we put him first. We need a rest for everybody. If you have working animals, do not make them work. Just be still and know that he is God. If you're an employer, do not expect your employees to work. Give them a day to rest as well. If you say how will I cope? Well perhaps get them to cook in advance, or your wife to cook in advance, and eat food that is cool and relaxed. Cold meats and salads, if necessary. Whatever will work for you in your family. It's a case of resting. Maybe you've got house guests that come and visit you on your day of rest. You can say: “This is the Lord's Day, come with us to church.” If they put up a fight, then say: “Well you can stay here, but we as for me and my household, we are going to worship.” Nine times out of ten, if they're good guests, they'll come with you and worship together.
If you say, “But this is such a difficult thing! How will I ever stop working? How will I change my lifestyle? I’ve got into a habit of working seven days a week.” Well, I need to call you to re-evaluate your life. This is one of the ten commandments. If we don't obey this commandment, then what's to say we must obey: “Do not steal.” If we say, well I don't steal. Then do you get upset when other people steal from you? or “I don't lie!” But do you get upset when people lie to you? And if you expect the ten commandments to apply in this world, then start with your day of rest as an example.
Let me give you a little story, I was told at the cell group. It was a testimony. A lady got a phone call at work to say somebody's stealing your stuff. When she got home the neighbours had apprehended somebody stealing her stuff. The person said: “No, this is my stuff.” And the neighbours said: “No, that's this lady stuff. We've seen her. She's a Christian. She goes to church on Sunday.” Now the neighbours, who apprehended this thief, this lady did not know very well. She'd waved at them when she'd driven past them. But they knew her as a Christian. They knew that she left for church every Sunday. And left for work early in the morning. And while she was at work, the thief tried to steal. She got all her goods back because her neighbours knew her and knew her witness. They were used by God to prevent that theft. That's the same witness our resting gives to the world in our lives.
The Old Testament speaks about what distinguishes us as the people of God, one of the things that should distinguish us, is a day that we set apart for God, and from work. To give rest to everybody under our sphere of influence. To be at peace with our Creator.
Thirdly, then, we are to reap the reward. We are to enjoy the blessings. The chocolate around the wafer. We are to follow God's example. Remember God is the Creator of the whole universe. the Almighty God, who did not need to rest. He is all-powerful! But he set an example for us. He chose to rest on the seventh day and he blessed that day. He will bless you. He will put the chocolate around the dry labour of your life, if you will rest before Him.
You need to discover that, that your life and your business is not bigger than God, creating all the galaxies in the universe, and all the stars. Think of our solar system and that huge star called the sun around which our little planet called earth revolves. On this planet, all the continents are there. And on those continents, at the southern edge of Africa, you and I sit. We are called by the Creator of all the universe to rest, and be still. Not to think that our work or our business is more important.
I always look at business. I came out of the business world. I’ve marvelled at those businesses, like McDonald’s for instance, that do so well. They have a McDonald’s all around the world. But do you know when I travel to the United States, there's a company that does as twice as well as McDonald’s? It's a company called Chick-fil-A. The average Chick-fil-A unit made around $4,090,900 in 2017. By contrast, the total sales for a McDonald's ($2,670,320 per unit). You might have read about them in the newspapers. We don't have them in South Africa anymore. Chick-fil-A works six days a week, because it's owned by Christians. They close on the seventh day, to give their staff rest. Interestingly enough God has blessed them with double the profits as McDonald’s, which are open 24 hours a day seven days a week in some places around the world.
God is saying: “Yes, you can work as much as you like, but I will bless you if you will trust me.” I will add the chocolate! The profits to your business, if you will put me first. Interesting, that Chick-fil-a is opening 8% new stores, per annum, while KFC is closing 1% of their stores. If you're a business owner, I want to challenge you. Why don't you test this and rest for yourself and your company, and see if God doesn't add that blessing, the chocolate to your life? And He gives you seven days’ worth of work, if you will trust Him.
That starts on an individual level, that each one of us, as God's people, need to rest one day out of seven. Somebody will say to you, “Well, why don't you rest on the Sabbath day, Saturday?” Well, simply, because Jesus rose on the first day of the week, and we as Christians have generally rested on that day. But if you happen to be working then, then rest on another day. But make sure it's a witness to others and for God, that you rest. That you don't do your banking, or mowing the lawn or washing your car, or anything else on that day. Remember God's promise. We looked at that passage a few weeks ago, that the manna that the people collected went rotten every day if they collected too much, but on the sixth day, God blessed that manna and made it last two days., God will bless your work just like he blessed the manna in the desert. He will give you seven days’ worth of manna in your life if you will faithfully serve Him for six days. We need to learn that lesson and keep learning that lesson.
I need to ask you, are you perhaps killing yourself? Working yourself to death? Having a nervous breakdown? Having burnout in your life, because you do not rest as God has commanded. I know it's hard to make the changes, but it's worth it. I have done that since early on in my Christian walk when I learned about this fourth commandment. I’ve seen God being faithful to me and my family. He has kept us. I want to encourage you, that you rest. That you look to God. That you focus on Him. You focus on the excellency of Christ. And you realize that He is worth serving and loving. And as you set aside time for other things, perhaps you give to God your tithe. You take ten percent of all your income, and you've seen that God is faithful, to take the remaining ninety percent and stretch it to be even 100%, 110%, 120%.
God is no man's debtor. He opens the windows of heaven and pours out blessing on us. The chocolates of life, financially. But also he has not just given you finances, He's given you time. And He's broken time up into seven days in a week, and so He calls you to set aside one day in that week. Interestingly enough He also gives you other holy days. Days that are set apart. Holidays we call them and those are extra blessings, over and above the Sabbath. And if you look at the Jewish calendar they were about two weeks in the year. And in our modern-day, we get two or three weeks of leave. And all of that is God's gift. 52 days a year He says rest, step aside, my child, and be still, and rest in My presence. Now your health calls you to rest. Your family would rejoice in rest. Your business will rejoice in rest. I remember as a small child on Sundays thinking: “Oh! This is boring.” But now that I work so hard, I realize that rest is a wonderful blessing. I can rest hard too and rest in Christ, and know that I need to accommodate my life to God and not God to me. He has given me this day as a blessing and may it be like that chocolate, a blessing in your life.
Lord Jesus, we want to pray and thank You for thinking of us and giving us a day to rest. Meet with us Lord and strengthen us. Help us to make the adjustments in our lives to be obedient to You. And help us to recognize the blessings, the chocolates, that You add, in a sense, to time. As we put You first in our lives, so meet with us, Lord Jesus. Empower us by Your Spirit to obey You. That even as You, by habit, by Godly habit, went into the synagogue, (Sunday) Sabbath by Sabbath, may we set aside our day of rest to be with You, and Your people, to build them up. And to be built up ourselves. For this, we pray in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. Well, may God bless You. May He add that chocolate to your life, that extra time, as you rest. That extra finance, as you tithe. That blessing that you need in your life, and in your family, if you will put Jesus first, and love the Lord your God, with all your soul, your strength and your mind. And may your life will be to His glory, now and forevermore, Amen