3 Reasons Why 6 > 7

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University

"The Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27
“Viewing flowers on horseback" 走马看花 Chinese proverb.

The Sabbath: Three Reasons why Six is Greater than Seven

In "The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism", Max Weber wrote of Christians' drive for success but he neglected that Christianity is also the only religion that drives us to rest, because is we obey God we can accomplish more in six days than in seven.

With over 260 grad students and no assistant, plus my many other responsibilities, and various works, I am busy. But in spite of this, I almost never work on the Sabbath--and if I have to work on the Sabbath for some reason, I make up for it by taking off another day.

I do this for three reasons.

One: Rest: my body, mind and soul need all need it.
Two: Reward: the Sabbath is a weekly foretaste of the rewards promised by our Father. If we don't stop to enjoy, we are racing through life like the Chinese viewing flowers on horseback.
Three: Trust: resting, in spite of my hectic schedule, demonstrates my faith that my Father will multiply my labor so that I can bear more fruit in six days than seven.

1. Rest. We were created both for work and rest. For example, consider sleep, which is our Daily Sabbth. No one really understands why we must sleep 1/3 of our life away, but we do. Those who do not sleep (there are some) die early. Those who sleep too little fall ill. Rest is necessary for both body and mind.

In MacBeth, Shakespeare wrote,
Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath
Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
Chief nourisher in life's feast.

D.H. Lawrence wrote that sleep is how God recreates us nightly:

And if tonight my soul may find her peace
in sleep, and sink in good oblivion,
and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower
then I have been dipped again in God, and new-created.
~D.H. Lawrence

Adequate sleep prolongs our lives:
"Sleep is the interest we have to pay on the capital which is called in at death; and the higher the rate of interest and the more regularly it is paid, the further the date of redemption is postponed." ~Arthur Schopenhauer

2. Reward Our mind, body and soul need rest weekly as well as daily. Many speak of eternal rewards, but even as sleep is the "little slice of eternal rest" now, so the Sabbath is a weekly foretaste of eternal enjoyment. Sleep is a nightly inner renewal; the Sabbath allows us to enjoy a weekly outer renewal.

God Himself gave us the example. He created heaven and earth in six days but on the seventh He rested, to enjoy what the fruits of his labor. We need the rest, and we need the time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We rest each Sabbath, and enter each week a renewed creation.

Breaking the Sabbath Breaks You Jesus warned against making the Sabbath a mere religious ritual. "Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." But he never said we could break the Sabbath with impunity. Breaking the Sabbath will break us, even as going without nightly sleep will destroy our health and, eventually, curtail our lives.

3. Faith. In this hectic day and age, many of my friends work around the clock, seven days a week, and still can't keep up. That is because they work from their own strength and not the greater Inner Strength our Father gives us within--or that fount has dried up because they have not taken their nightly and weekly rest. Ironically, many say they are working 24/7 for God, but if you are driven instead of led, you might want to consider who is in the driver's seat.

Success requires 1) Direction, and 2) Energy to persevere.
If we do not stop, if we do not take the time to hear that still small voice, we will go our own way on our own steam--and we will run out of steam.

Why 6 > 7? When I was in business I learned the hard way that I could accomplish much more in six days than in seven. I learned that I could succeed where other much more capable people failed when I was led, not driven, and they were driven but not led.

Plan to Rest It does take faith to stop, but come Saturday night, I put the computer away and don't work until Monday, and if something is urgent, I trust my Father to work it out, or help me avoid getting in such a bind in the first place. This, of course, requires planning as well as faith.

And I continually remind myself that Sabbath-Keeping is not a ritual for show but a gift to grow, and if I trust my Father, and dismount long enough to smell the roses in the garden He has given me, He will do more through me than I could ever do through myself.

With God, 6>7.
Without God, 7<6, 7="0.">

Dismount that galloping horse and smell the roses.

It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it. ~John Steinbeck The amount of sleep required by the average person is five minutes more. ~Wilson Mizener
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