Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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A Resistance of “Enough”

Bible Reading:      Genesis 1:31–2:3

Key verse:  Vs 31

 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (NIV)

DEVOTION

In today’s passage we see the working of the One True God of Genesis. The entire Old Testament continuously contrasts the One True God of Genesis with the gods of the prevailing civilizations. If we consider the gods of Egypt as an example, under the Pharaoh, who was regarded as the human manifestation of divinity, the mantra of the nation was always “more”; more bricks - less straw, more work – less rest, more demands - less sustenance. In that system, the value of human life was solely determined by output. If you made more, you had value and if you stopped working, you ceased to have value.
Genesis 1 offers a radical counter-narrative. The One True God of Genesis, the Creator God is not pictured as a workaholic or a taskmaster. He is an artist who knows when to put his paintbrush down. This picture of the Creator God should give us pause. This is a God who “rested”. Instead of looking to our Creator God who “rests”, we His creation, instead feel guilty when we sit still, as if we are wasting time. 
God did not rest because He was exhausted; He rested because He was satisfied. In our modern lives, we rarely achieve satisfaction. Our inboxes are never empty. The laundry is never finished. The to-do list resets every morning. If we wait until we are “finished” with all our tasks, we will never rest.
God calls us to a Sabbath rest, a discipline of saying “It is good enough” even when the work is not finished. We declare that the world will keep spinning without our constant intervention. We resist the lie that we are indispensable, and we accept our role as the Creator’s beloved creatures.
In Genesis 2:3, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. This is significant. In the Bible, this is the very first time the word “holy” (qadosh) is used. In Genesis 1, God did not make a place Qadosh, He did not make a person Qadosh; instead he used Qadosh to qualify a unit of time, the Sabbath day. 
The Sabbath day is supposed to be a holy sanctuary in the daily cycle of time. When we make time to carve out Sabbath time (it does not have to be only a Sunday), we are intentionally entering a holy sanctuary blessed into existence by our Creator God. Sabbath should not merely be considered as “not working”, rather it should be an active resistance against the culture of commodity. Sabbath should stand as an act of defiance. When we stop and observe the Sabbath, even for a short period of time, we are defying being slaves to routines dictated by selfishness and materialism. When we stop and focus on meditation rather than making money, we are defying being slaves to the idol of greed. When we stop and focus on worship instead of grocery shopping, we are defying being slaves to the idol of consumption. When we stop and focus on serving someone else, we are defying being slaves to the idol of power. 
Today, I challenge you to choose some time, even a few hours, to first declare that “my work is not done, but it is enough and it is very good”. Then physically disconnect from the devices that demand your constant attention and output (e-mails, texts, news etc.). Engage in an activity that has zero economic value, yet brings joy (a walk, a nap, a conversation). I challenge us today to begin a Resistance of “Enough”.

PRAYER

God of the Seventh Day, deliver me from the anxiety that tells me I must always produce to be loved. Grant me the courage to stop. Help me to see my life not as a problem to be solved, but as your perfect creation that is “very good”. Teach me to build a sanctuary in time, where I can meet You and remember who I am. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 “People who keep sabbath live all seven days differently.” – Walter Brueggemann


Anita Joy-Thomas
Immanuel Mar Thoma Church, Houston

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