Two weekends ago the program went on a Bing trip and went to Hiroshima and Miyajima. In Hiroshima we visited the Atomic Bomb Museum and heard the testimony of an atomic bomb survivor. Both were very moving experiences.
Miyajima is said to be one of the three best sights in Japan. It's famous for this temple and tori gate that look like they're floating on the water. But at low tide you can walk out to the tori gate. I only saw it at low tide though so I don't think it was quite as pretty as it could have been.
After that the next day I visited Kurashiki and Okayama. There I saw a very nice quaint preserved town and then Korakuen, one of the three most famous gardens in Japan. It started pouring though that night and so we ended up seeing the garden while getting absolutely drenched. The wind even broke my umbrella =P It might also be because it was a tiny cheap $5 umbrella from the convenient store I bought last year.
This past week though I've been working a lot and staying up late. While the things I've been filling my days with have certainly been good things, homework (yes doing homework is a good thing) , talking to people about the gospel, reading my bible, reading books, listening to sermons, truth is I'm exhausted. The past two days I've needed copious amounts of coffee to make it through my day and then struggled to stay conscious during my commute home which was only at 6pm and today 4:30pm. Upon getting home both days I promptly collapsed into bed and slept until dinner (7:30pm). Yet still with plenty of work (I took on 20 units and find Japanese particularly demanding this quarter), I actually slept at 7am yesterday and here I am still up at 2:30am (okay, but I plan to sleep soon and get a reasonable amount of sleep given I already napped for 2 hours). And it was last night at 5 am that as I worked on a presentation while listening to a sermon that I saw how much of a hypocrite I was being by not sleeping and trashing my health.
God calls us to rest. God demands "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work" (Exodus 20:8-10) This is the 4th of the Ten Commandments.
When asked, Jesus states these as the greatest of God's commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Note that the first and greatest is loving God and that within these two commandments all of the law is summarized.
Jesus also said, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words." (John 14:23-24)
And so here is my sin. God commands me to rest, and I'm not keeping his word, thus by not adequately resting I'M NOT LOVING GOD. I'm disobeying the greatest commandment. Despite all that I try to do to labor for Him, it's not love, it's idolatry.
Paul defines idolatry in Romans. Idolaters "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images" (Romans 1:23) and "exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen" (Romans 1:25)
This is me. An idolater. I've exchanged the glory of God for something else and am worshiping something other than God, namely work.
Of course doing all these things like evangelism and bible study are great. My last post expounded on the source of where these things come from. And this is so important. We must do these works out of worshiping and loving God that comes from a reborn faith in Him, not out of idolatry and lawlessness! And when I work so much that I ignore God's sabbath command I've transformed a good thing into a idol. And falling into this can be so easy. But the consequences are so high. Jesus teaches “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you;depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)
So what do I do from here? Repent and praise God for grace.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
James 4:7-10
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