I have added to my exercise routine a rowing machine.  For the body’s optimal benefit, one must learn a rhythm of pulling and returning in a fluid motion that neither strains the back or the legs.  It is part of a larger workout.  When I am doing my workout, I have been playing a mix playlist of pop, gospel, R&B and jazz music to keep me motivated.  As I am working out, I am listening for that bass beat, that underlying rhythm upon which all the melodies, instrumentals and vocals are built upon.  It is when I am on the rowing machine and listening, I can close my eyes and feel that rhythm of music and the pull/return of the machine and I find myself contemplating on the rhythms of life God has given us.

As a pastor, I have many pastor friends and invariably we have discussions of feeling depleted, tired and worn out.  It comes with the territory.  I find that IF someone has decided to put a day in place for their rest, it is usually after the weekend on Mondays or Tuesdays when their bodies just can’t go any further.  I too have tried that, but earlier this year, I still felt so depleted and I could not figure out why.  I thought maybe it had been the added pressure of doctor appointments and physical therapy.  Then, I received my Bible Study subscription on Resting in the Lord.  As I read the texts about Sabbath and how it was a gift from God and a pattern of work and rest, I began to see the cause of my depletion.  I was never taking a full day of rest from my labors.

I quickly, began to pray and look at my calendar and my activities.  I remembered a time past when I developed a schedule of having all my school work done by Friday night and then doing my best to rest on Saturday’s.  I was still doing work on Saturdays so it was never a complete Sabbath rest.  Sundays are out of the question because I have to preach and care for a congregation.  When I retired from secular work, I thought it would all fall in place, but here I was a couple years into retirement, and still I was depleted.

As I continued with my Study, I felt the Spirit tugging me to examine my weekly routine to determine where I could put the rhythm of Sabbath in place.  Clearly after Sundays was not working.  But how could I manage any other day?  That is when He led me to rearrange my schedule so that the rhythm of Sabbath fell before Sundays.  After all, the Bible does not say only on Sunday or Saturday, but it says six days of labor (whatever that looks like) and one day of rest.  The rhythm became clear to me.  I also realized that for the rhythm to work I had to work on developing a plan that planned for Sabbath, just like I had to learn how to pull/return in rhythm with that rowing machine.  I felt my hand opening up to receive the gift God gave humanity eons ago and for the first time in years, I was experiencing what it truly means to rest from my labor, to rest in His grace.

I am still relatively fresh on this journey, but the benefits have been too fruitful to return to the old way that left me depleted and tired.  The rhythm of Sabbath has now become that irresistible bass beat of life upon which all other melodies, instrumentals and vocals are built upon, that pull/return that allows me to close my eyes and let God lead the way.