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The Semi Circle

Most people in the world live in a rhythm where we work and then we rest (ie rest from work).  However, the biblical pattern (flowing from teaching of about Sabbath) is that we work from rest and that we bear fruit from abiding.    This can be seen in:

  • Genesis 1-2 where humans were created on the 6th day and by implication, the first thing they did was rest with God on the seventh day.  
  • In Psalm 23 we lie down in green pastures before walking and facing our enemies.
  • In John 15 Jesus teaches that if we abide in Him THEN we will bear much fruit.
  • Interestingly the Jewish day begins in the evening - in other words the first thing we do every day is rest/sleep and trust God to run the world while our eyes are closed.

The semi-circle and the pendulum remind us to live in this rhythm of rest and work, abiding and fruitfulness, growth and pruning, at different levels of life - daily, weekly, seasonally, and annually


semicircle

  • An essential component of redemption is that a Christian should be healthy, and this means allowing the Holy Spirit to set the pace of life.
  • He is the only one who can enable us to establish a healthy balance between work and rest on a daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal basis.
  • The pace of modern life tends to blur our perspective, especially when it comes to managing our time according to the overall plan which God has for our lives.  
  • Most people are caught up with what they do in life rather than who they are, and the pressure to strive towards that end is usually fairly high. There is no argument against the principle that we are created to do things but we need to remember that our identity comes from our covenant relationship with God and not what we do.

We need to plan times of rest and abiding in Christ into our lives.
  • Daily - set aside some time to be still and quiet with God (the morning is a good time, but evening can also work if you are more of an evening person)
  • Weekly - have a day of rest
  • Monthly/Quarterly - look to get away from the normal routine for a day and a night specifically to be with God
  • Annually - have holidays but also more extended time with God (maybe a block of 2 or 3 days).