Weekly Blog - 1 January 2024 - Work, Rest and Health
Work, rest and health
As we enter the New Year, our thoughts often turn to new resolutions to find a new job, set up a business, pursue that hobby, or get fit and healthy. We thought it would be apt in this week’s Arise weekly blog to consider what the Bible has to say about our approach to work, rest and health, to inform our thinking, prayer and decisions. Our walk of discipleship as Christians is all about drawing closer and closer to Jesus and becoming more like him. As such, the Arise Manifesto (Arise’s big picture, researched, Biblical, holistic and practical vision for a better world) considers the whole issue of our approach to work, rest and health, as part of that walk of discipleship (Arise Manifesto, pg 55 – 56).
Throughout the Bible, the people of God are taught to be hard working. Work, whether paid or voluntary, is good, and it is healthy for us to work hard and well, with purpose, rather than live lives of dissolute self-centred leisure. Paul tells us, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Col 3: 23). However, this is always to be balanced with significant times of rest, relaxation, time off work doing the things we enjoy and long periods of holiday and celebration. God made us to both work hard, and to enjoy times of rest and relaxation to re-charge. God is a God of fun, laugher, joy and delight, as well as challenge and hard work. The Sabbath model of six parts work, to one part rest, (with significant extra holiday thrown in on top) is a good ratio to follow. From the earliest times, God’s people were encouraged “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed” (Ex 23: 12).
Alongside this healthy work/life balance, we are told to eat healthily, and not be greedy or to get drunk for both spiritual and health reasons. In just one instance, the book of Proverbs urges “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags” (Prov 23: 20 – 21). This guidance, together with the general principle that we want to be active for as long as possible in order to serve God with maximum longevity, points to the Biblical principle that we should keep ourselves healthy. With our modern understanding of health, we can add that we should also take regular exercise, have sufficient sleep, wash and clean ourselves daily, and avoid smoking or taking drugs. Furthermore, in our modern world we are increasingly aware of the importance of mental as well as physical health. A right approach to work, rest, fun, health, sleep etc. goes a long way towards helping with this. As indeed does other practices on having clear purpose and calling in our lives, and the right attitude and integrity as covered in previous Arise weekly blogs. Other elements of a healthy life of discipleship, which will also help our mental health, are set out in Part 3 of the Arise Manifesto (Arise Manifesto, pg 47 – 78).
So, as we enter the New Year, let’s throw out unrealistic and unhealthy expectations and attitudes about work, rest and health. What is crucial for us as Christians is the right balanced approach, to discern our calling in work from God, and then to work hard at it, but to balance that with significant times of rest, relaxation and fun activity, enough sleep and a healthy lifestyle that is good for both our physical and mental health. Happy New Year!
Find out more
Find out more about how God is at work in the world, and the role we all have to play in that work, in the Arise Manifesto. This report is Arise’s big picture, researched, Biblical, holistic and practical vision for a better world. It looks at what the Bible says, and what we can learn from the best data and the world’s leading experts on the five major areas of evangelism, discipleship, social justice, development and the environment. It then draws these lessons together into a practical road map for the changes we need to see in our world, which the Arise movement campaigns to achieve.
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