Take A Break For The Heaven Of It

A Positive Vision For Rest

I sometimes lack motivation for taking a break. To be clear, I’m not talking about procrastination - I have no problem doing that! The issue is even when I try to intentionally take some time away from work I can get a nagging sense of disappointment.

Does God want non-stop production? Am I letting my family down by pausing my work, even for a few minutes? Sometimes it feels like it.

In my last post, I shared three barriers to taking a break: productivity expectations, technology, and the effects of sin. But that’s incomplete.

We need a positive vision for pausing our work.

Let’s start with Jesus.

Jesus And Guilt-free Leisure

A couple weeks ago I had a fun conversation with Sarah Zylstra of The Gospel Coalition about video games.¹ We touched on the “theology of play,” and how God created a world with bushy-tailed squirrels, butter-dipped bread, and ballet-dancing clouds. Unlike in Islam’s law-heavy Koran, a third of the Bible is poetry. God paints, sings, and cooks fish. So in some sense, God plays. Sarah and my co-host Joel Jacob weren’t sure whether Jesus would have played video games if he lived today but we agreed, as a truly human being, he would have taken breaks (see for example, Matt. 14:23).

Jesus taught guilt-free leisure, too. Jesus is explicit in Mark 6:31-32,

And he said to [the disciples], “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”

For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

I love this passage. Every good leader I’ve known has encouraged their followers to slow down every once in a while and Jesus is no different.

Do we value breaks enough? Are they merely permitted since they recharge us? Are they justified only as a means for the ends they produce? Sure, take a break, as long as it gets you enough energy to get back to glorifying God. Is that right? I don’t think so. Breaks are good regardless of their outcome.

Take A Break For Goodness Sake

The law of God includes the law to rest. One of the top ten things that God commanded us to do was to not do things. It’s called the Sabbath and it’s supposed to happen once per week, even if you’re a baptist. The London Baptist Confession of Faith (which copies much of the Westminister Confession of Faith) says:

The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

There’s been a lot said about a protestant work ethic — good things like the sin of sloth (it’s one of the seven deadliest!) or the importance of working hard for your employer (it should be as if you’re working for God!) — I wish more would be said of a protestant rest ethic.

One of the most important distinguishing marks of ancient Israel was practicing a day of rest. I know good Bible interpreters can disagree on how exactly to practice the Sabbath in the new covenant and Romans 14:5-9 teaches we shouldn’t be legalistic — but the lack of attention we give to it, given the extensive teaching of Scripture, is concerning. We should rest from both worldly employment and worldly recreations; go to church, worship God, take a nap, and do what’s necessary but do little or just do nothing.

It’s a new anti-consumerism and anti-Nike slogan that we can follow from time to time: just do nothing.

Two more reasons to rest. First, to take a break is akin to doing something God can’t — which is a critical reminder of our finitude! It’s like sleeping. Getting some rest is a declaration of your whole person saying, “I am not God;” Kelly Kapic calls sleeping a spiritual discipline. We can rest from our work because God will never rest from his.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep. (Psalm 121:3-4)

And lastly, we should take a break for the heaven of it. I heard this line on a podcast I listened to with Justin Bailey, and I can’t get it out of my head.

Can you imagine heaven with me? Can you imagine what eternal rest will be like? For those who repent and believe in Jesus, there will be no tears or sorrow or pain — only joy. What would it be like to place your hand in the rivers of heaven, which glisten as bright as crystals? To step on golden streets, transparent as glass? To be protected by city walls of jasper, sapphire, and emerald? To look upon the face of God? To be in his holy presence, known and loved and glorified?

With all that in mind, can you now pray with me just as Jesus taught, for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven?

Now I don’t want to make the mistake of assuming we can fully taste heaven now (the error of over-realized eschatology). But I do want to set my mind on heavenly things (Col. 3:2).

We have the first fruits now in the Spirit (Romans 8:23) which is a foretaste of a future blessing (2 Cor. 1:22). The tastes of heaven we get now point to the twelve fruits of the tree of life in heaven (Rev. 22:2).

The promise of entering his rest still stands (Heb. 4:1). And there remains an eternal Sabbath-rest for the people of God, “for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,” (Heb. 4:10). Heaven will bring the rest we all seek.

And so when you, fellow Christian, take a break from your worldly work, you are enacting something of heaven on earth.

Our society is restless because God created us to rest more. You were made for heavenly rest.

So take a break, for the heaven of it.

1. You can listen to it if you haven’t yet on the podcast I cohost.