The Joy of Wasting Time

I rarely waste time. I either don't have time to waste, or at least I think I don't have time to waste. Chad and I typically take one day off a week. I don't want that to sound like whining, because I work those six days willingly. With one day off a week, a sabbath day seems like a guilty pleasure. There are so many things to be done around the house - projects that have been waiting my attention, or things that must be done. Even though it seems like a guilty pleasure, I know God has a purpose behind the commandment. I had a realization today of how little time I spend playing with my kids. I don't know that they would say they are cheated. I'm sure every dad is busy at work. But today I wasted pretty much the entire day having fun. It was great. The first half the day I spent rebuilding a go-cart carburetor with my brother. We got it running again even though we didn't really know what we were doing. We will likely go ride it tomorrow. The second half the day I spent playing Dance, Dance Revolution (or something like it set to contemporary Christian music), with Amanda and Lego Star Wars for Play Station with Ben. (My brother Rodney has always had more fun toys than me.) Jesus said that Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. I bet you can guess that the word sabbatical has the word sabbath at its heart. I am experiencing sabbath and it is good. Phil said something at our last leadership community at church that I have thought a lot about. I was asking a question about what makes us thirsty for more of God. Phil replied that he sometimes doesn't realize that he was thirsty until he has had something to drink. I think he's right. I think we may not realize how warn out we are until we begin to experience rest. I hope for those who are tired and weary in one way or another that you can experience the pleasure of sabbath.