DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
IS IT POSSIBLE?
Happy Tax Day! Yesterday, we talked about BALANCE/REST.
Is it even possible?
Is R-E-S-T possible?
Just now, as I started writing “R-E-S“, I heard Aretha Franklin’s #1 hit in my head:
R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Take care. TCB.
She sang that song! SONG/VIDEO
Maybe we could switch up the lyrics this week to:
R-E-S-T-T-T-T. Find out what it means to me!
R-E-S-T-T-T-T. Take care. TCB-Y!
(After all, when we finish Taking Care of Business, who wouldn’t want to enjoy The Country’s Best Yogurt?!)
I LOVE seeing people live on purpose in their purpose and finding a way to share their gifts. This video definitely shows the Queen of Soul aka Lady Soul aka Sister ReRe doing just that. Even her backup singers are electric (one of which looks just like her… maybe her sister?).
And at one point, I think Sister ReRe forgets that she’s at a jazz festival in France instead of her church. Her gospel roots just take over. I don’t think she can help it. Either way, the whole stage is bouncing. I get exhausted just looking at the video. Talk about the need for some rest! :=)
Yesterday, we contemplated incorporating a Sabbath rest into our weekly lives in the 21st century. I mentioned how our Jewish fam in Bev Hills set an example by shutting down small businesses from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.
Devon Franklin, Sony producer who developed Whitney Houston’s remake of Sparkle before she passed, TD Jakes’ Jumping the Broom and Will & Jaden Smith’s Karate Kid remake, is Seventh Day Adventist. In his book, Produced by Faith, Devon describes how he unplugs on Friday at dusk through Saturday at dusk. And when he unplugs, he really unplugs, like turns off his Blackberry.
Can you imagine a whole day without your Blackberry, iPhone, cell phone, internet or cyber communication, at all?
I’m not saying we have to unplug as stated above, but I think there’s a principle which God thinks is so important that He made it a commandment alongside “Do not kill”, “Do not steal”, and “Keep Him first”. Maybe God knows that we would be healthier and happier and replenished if we find a way to rest and stop working for at least one day a week.
I don’t know about you, but a healthier, happier life doesn’t always motivate me, off the bat. It should, but I already think I’m pretty healthy and things in the Lett household are not perfect, but we sure do find reasons to laugh at ourselves and the crazy things we experience in LaLa Land. So, healthy/happy, got that. Why do we need a Sabbath?
Does anybody else think like that?
Why?
Because the Sabbath rest is not just about being healthy and happy. God says the Sabbath is for Him. Let’s look at it again.
Today’s Meditation
Read below or click: EXODUS 20:8-11
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
NOT JUST ABOUT US
God says the seventh day is a Sabbath to Him. This is not just about us, Fam. God says to remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy. That holy means consecrated, set apart, devoted to the Lord. Holy means not profane or common, but sacred, distinctive.
God isn’t just telling us to keep a Sabbath and keep it holy for our health and happiness, though those are probably byproducts. It’s much deeper than that. God says: Set aside a day that is set aside to me. Set aside a day where you honor me and not just do your own thing. Not working is only a part of the equation. This could be seen as a heart issue.
The Sabbath could be seen as an outward manifestation of an inner reality. One day a week, we set aside a day that says, we depend on God. We do what He pleases. But is that really our inner reality? Do we depend on God? Do we please Him?
Many followers of Christ do take Sunday as a Sabbath. They unplug. Go to church. Focus on God. Eat a meal together with the family. Watch a football game together. Relax.
And many ministry families take Monday as a Sabbath. I saw on a website recently where a popular megachurch in LA shuts down on Monday. Office hours are Tuesday through Friday. That’s pretty radical.
IS IT POSSIBLE?
So, obviously, it is possible.
But is it possible – for me?
Or rather, do I find it important enough to incorporate into my life?
This is not about some legalistic approach to life. I’m just posing the question: What would it look like, in our house, to take a day where we say, we’re not going to work today, but we’re going to enjoy the Lord and each other and fellowship with family and eat and do what pleases God?
Is that so hard?
Is it possible to plan ahead, like we do for a vacation? Do everything that we need to before the vacation, so that when we’re on the vacation, we can actually have down time to relax and enjoy the family. Could we do that weekly? Plan ahead and do everything that needs to get done in 6 days so that the 7th day can be one of rest and re-energizing in the Lord and family?
What do you think?
Possible for you?
Truthfully, my life looks more like the never-ending swishing dresses of Sister ReRe’s backup singers. But I’m seriously considering this.
Is it possible… for me?
“Just a little bit! Just a little bit!”
Naima