A friend of mine had a baby recently – and her husband took a week or so off before heading back to work.  I asked him how it was going.

He said, work is alright, but it’s different now . I just don’t find it matters as much as it used to.  I won’t quit or anything, but it just seems less important to me.

True enough.  My friend still needs to work, but there is a new member of his family who is far more important than every possible promotion, raise or accolade.

We all need this kind of shift in perspective – not by all going and having a kid – but by inviting God to be at the center of our lives.

When there is no ultimate goal or concern in our lives, or that varies day to day, or simply becomes whatever is most urgent, busyness consumes us.  We can’t stop it or get away from it.

If God is the ultimate center of our lives, then everything else falls into place around Him.  James, who we interviewed a couple weeks ago was consumed by the lifestyle his lucrative career could buy, and lost himself.  In the end, he quit, took a break, and eventually came back – but able to see that work wasn’t everything. You can watch the interview again here: https://vimeo.com/72458543

He and my friend with the baby both realized they were enslaved to their work, sometimes without even realizing it.

This kind of slavery to work is something God wanted to prevent Israel from ever experiencing again, or inflicting on anyone else.  In Deuteronomy 15:1-2 and Deuteronomy 15:12-15:

“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor.”

“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.

We’ve heard a lot about the Sabbath day so far, but this introduces the idea of the Sabbath year where Israel was meant to release every debt, and release every person who was so indebted they had sold themselves into slavery.

Why?  Because God had released their nation from slavery, and this would be a constant reminder.  Every week, a day off, and every 6 years, a year off for crops and for the lowest servants.  This would be a clear sign they were not worshipping work, but worshipping God.

That same act of liberation needs to be in our rest.  We need to tell ourselves we are resting to prove we are not slaves to our employers, to our bank accounts, to our pride or anything else.  We are children of God, not defined by work.

There is more to me than my work.

This inner shift has to come before we try making outer, structural changes to our weeks and years, like we’ll discuss next week.

Question: What would it take for you to see your work differently?  What could change for a year, or what life event, would break the cycle?

Ryan Sim - April 3, 2014

Thursday - Act On It - Reset Death

Hi, welcome to Redeem the Commute. I'm Ryan your host of the Daily Challenges. Here we are in nature. And that's because this week we're studying how following Jesus resets our views of death, and in fact, Jesus resets death itself. I have led a number of funeral services, and sometimes hear some troubling things. One of my first was a difficult funeral for a young child. As we planned the funeral, I remember the child’s grandmother trying to comfort her daughter. She said God must have needed another angel in heaven. I remember wondering whether to say anything or not. I could let it slide as a harmless attempt to make someone feel better – but what happens when she learns that humans never become angels? What happens when she gets angry with God for stealing her child for his “personal collection”? I decided the gospel was even better news to share than this sentimental idea about children becoming angels, and told her about the gospel or good news of Jesus instead. Ultimately that is news that will last and will transform her life, not just nice ideas that don’t hold water. Remember this passage we explored on Tuesday? 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 1 Thess 4:13-14 Paul said all this stuff to the Thessalonians to encourage appropriate Christian grief, not the wild wailing of pagan funerals. He wants to give them confidence, and assurance that death is not something to fear. The number one reason: they have hope. One person who follows Redeem the Commute is preparing for the death of a family member. She said to me that her family members are upset, then looked at me and said, “We see it differently, right?” She struggled for words about heaven, resurrection, how it’s not the end yet, all the while still trying to figure out if she was allowed to be sad. And I simply said, “It’s okay to still be sad. We’re not sad about the death, but about the lost life.” Followers of Jesus should communicate that hope as they deal with death – it’s sad to lose time with a friend or loved one now, but the death itself isn’t the sad part. Everything communicates. Christian tradition was long to be buried intact, and in many cases facing eastward (at least in Canada) to be facing Jerusalem. The ideas was to communicate you were ready for the second coming. Was this a law, that you must be buried this way or God can’t raise you? No way. It was simply a way to communicate hope in God. There are many ways to communicate this hope when you die – from the songs people sing, to scriptures read, to how they distribute their estate. Challenge: Write out some funeral plans. What do you want to be communicated about you? About Jesus? About God?

Related Topics: Death, Funerals, Reset, Resurrection | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

From Series: "Reset"

When our computers get bogged down and unmanageable, we know to hit a reset button to simply start over. Wouldn't a reset button be great in life? We know it would be complicated, with all our responsibilities and routines to consider, but imagine the freedom and refreshment of a new start in life! What would you do differently? What would you pay more attention to, and what would you ignore? How would you avoid getting bogged down and broken again? The great news is, in coming to earth as Jesus Christ, God has begun to "reset" our universe, our world, and even us. We're invited to start over with him, in what he calls his kingdom. We're invited to start a new life with a clean slate. What gets wiped clean, and lived differently, when God resets our lives? We'll explore how God resets these key areas of our lives: Reset: Goals Reset: Time Reset: Money Reset: Work Reset: Body & Food Reset: Sex & Marriage Reset: Family Reset: Compassion Reset: Nature Reset: Society Reset: Death Join us for the next several weeks, and invite God to reset your life.

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