24/6: God’s Prescription For Restoring Balance In Our Always-On World

Our generation is the first in history to go 24/7 without pause. In the last twenty years, work is up by 15 percent and leisure is down by 30 percent.

Little wonder, then, that most of us are feeling too busy, too stressed, and stretched too thin.  What effect does going 24/7 have on our relationships with family, friends, and God? And how could restoring a weekly day of rest bring more balance to our lives?

Chronically busy

Modern American culture has ripped the Fourth Commandment out of its Bibles. No one would say it’s okay to murder, lie, or steal, but somehow it’s okay to regularly break one of the Top Ten.

Keeping a weekly stop day is counter-cultural. The mantra of today is, “I’m too busy.” The problem with instant results is they take too long.  A three-minute egg now takes 30 seconds.

In our haste to beat the clock, we multitask. It’s nothing to microwave a meal, shop online, and text simultaneously. We drink coffee while we drive, drive while we answer the phone, and talk on the phone while we walk.

A biblical prescription

What does the God say to people trapped in a 24/7 life?

Instead of working harder, smarter, or more efficiently, God tells us to stop.  That is what Sabbath means:  to stop, to cease.  One day in seven, we need to come to rest. 

But what is “rest”? Jewish scholars have argued for centuries over the definition of rest. Here’s a simple definition: Figure out what work is for you, and don’t do it one day in seven.

The definition of work and rest can shift over time.  If we beamed some ancient Egyptian slaves to a modern office building and showed them people sitting in comfortable chairs tapping on a pad, they would be hard pressed to identify that as “work.”  Now show them people dressed in Spandex, sweating under a hot sun, racing in a 5k Fun Run, and they would not link that with “rest.”

Living 24/6

Societal norms may change over history, but holy rest remains eternal. I try to follow three guidelines for my weekly day of rest:

       1. No commerce

       2. No activities that make me prideful

       3. No interference with someone else’s rest

Sabbath does not just happen: it requires preparation. When our children were still living at home, we cleaned the house together on Saturday. The kids got their homework done by Saturday evening. On Sunday morning, we walked to church, came home and ate lunch, then put it in park for the rest of the day.

What do we do on the Sabbath?  We go on long walks.  We take naps.  Nancy reads through the Bible each year, so Sunday is her day to spend unhurried time in scripture.  We don’t plan elaborate meals, but I enjoy a celebratory soda on Sabbath, and Nancy eats chocolate.  It’s a time of intimacy in our marriage, and intimacy with God.

Jesus is the Sabbath

Jesus is the Sabbath, come to help the blind see and set the captives free.  To believe that the world cannot get along one day a week without me at the helm is pure hubris.  When we lay down our burdens, Jesus promises to help carry our load.

There will always be temptations to work 24/7.  The greater the temptation to work on Sabbath, the more we will learn to trust in God’s assurance that six days is enough. Jesus tells us that we are not meant to save the Sabbath; rather, the Sabbath was meant to save us.

Ultimately, experiencing Sabbath rest is something you just have to do.  I can talk about how wonderful Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream taste all day long, but you won’t really know how great it is until you try some.

Shabbat Shalom

One particular fall evening defines stop day for me.  My children and I were in the attic of our old house, a large, nearly empty room with a hammock set up under the rafters.  The temperature outside had dropped, but inside the attic remained comfortably warm.  I was reading a book to the kids in the hammock, while Clark tugged rhythmically at the pull rope. The rope worked independently of the hammock's suspension system, allowing us to rock gently and consistently without touching the floor.  Emma’s head of blonde curls was snuggled up on my left shoulder, while Clark laid on the other. 

I finished reading the book, set it on the floor, and put my newly freed arms around them both.  The hammock swayed back and forth, counting each moment like a pendulum.

Emma fell asleep. Then Clark drifted off. The hammock slowed. Each child had a hand resting on my chest.  Somewhere in their slumber, they felt reassured by my breathing, my heartbeat, and my warm presence—just as I was calmed by theirs.

Time stopped.

That hammock time will always define Sabbath peace for me. Sabbath allows us to experience life at the speed of stop.

Enjoy the peace that passes all understanding. Commit to a weekly stop day.  It will change your relationships with family, friends, and God.  It will change you.