The Sabbath Year

Christians are very cognizant of the idea that Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, as a way of respecting the commandment to honor the Sabbath.  Most don't really do that, but they are at least aware of the idea.  What they aren't usually aware of, is that in the Old Testament, the Sabbath principle applies to more than just days of the week.  The Israelites are commanded to take every seventh year off as well, to let both them and the land rest.  Some of the natural reasons behind this are clear, in that leaving fields fallow for a year helps restore their fertility.

After having been out of college for six years, and working fairly hard during that time, I find myself taking an enforced rest.  I haven't really enjoyed it, because I haven't been at peace about the idea of idleness or rest.  But maybe it is not such a bad thing to take time off like that.

Americans get a bad reputation for being in debt, both individually and as a nation, but we are also one of the most productive groups of people in the world.  On average, we work longer hours and get more done than nearly any other group of people on earth.  Other cultures do not value work to the same degree.  I remember studying India back in college and being amazed at the number of week-long or month-long celebrations that they observe in different areas, and wondering how they ever got anything useful done over there.  But if they have done enough to survive, and these other events help them build relationship and make them happy, then more power to them.  Why don't we do things like that?

The motivation against observing a Sabbath in a more extensive way is a lack of faith in God's provision, or just plain greed.  Must we prove to ourselves and others how self reliant we are, or can we step back for a while to rely on God to meet our needs?  How much money or stuff do we really need?  Is working what God wants us to be doing with all of our time?

In my case the provision problem is a non-issue as God has met those needs for the time being, if not forever.  I just have trouble reconciling my lack of productivity with the idea of being at peace.  I probably draw too much of my identity from what I do.  So not doing much of significance for a while starts to reveal that as a problem.  So it will be interesting to see how this year develops: whether or not the Lord has more Sabbath time in store for me, and whether or not I can learn to rest in that idea.