Again, I look to Jesus as a model. The Bible records Jesus's activities and it says that on the Sabbath He went into the synagogue, "as was his custom"(Luke 4:16). That means that He did it regularly. Jesus understood the importance of connecting with God — together with others in a house of worship — on a weekly basis. In order to get the most out of life, we've got to do the same thing. We have to connect to a local church and re-energize ourselves spiritually.
If you are not involved in church because you're afraid that you're not good enough, think again. The church isn't full of perfect people. If everyone was perfect, there would be no need for the church. The church is a place that we come each week to reconnect, to focus on God, and to learn how He wants us to live so that we can get the most out of life.
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After I preach, I always hear the same story. Someone will inevitably come up to me and say, "Pastor, when I woke up this morning, I wasn't going to show up at church. I almost slept in. But when I got here, I was re-energized. I felt better. I was stressed and strained when I walked in. But I'm glad I came. I feel ready for the week ahead."
If you don't worship God weekly, if you don't take that time off regularly, you will be discontent, because you will be breaking an elementary commandment of the Lord — remember the Sabbath. It is a pattern that is set forth for us throughout the Bible and it is evidenced in Jesus’ own life.
The Emotional Reason
There's also an emotional reason for leisure. Think about your emotions at the end of an average week. If you're like me, you are fried. Now think about taking that feeling and having to work another twelve or fourteen hours during the "weekend" If you go through four or five weeks without taking a day to refuel your tanks, to recalibrate, to refocus, to rejuvenate, what's going to happen? Slowly but surely, your emotional battery will drain.
When our emotions are depleted, we want a quick fix. That's why a lot of people get involved in pornography, illicit affairs, overeating, and overspending. They're emotionally drained and they're looking for something to plug the hole.
That's when the evil one uses his most tempting methods: when we're emotionally spent. When did Satan tempt Jesus? Before Jesus went out into the desert for forty days and forty nights? No. It was right at the end of the forty days. Satan came to Jesus and tempted Him because at that point Jesus was tired, hungry, and emotionally drained. He also tempts us when we are at our weakest, especially emotionally.
We need to take some time to recharge or we'll be vulnerable to the evil one, who is always looking to destroy us and take us further away from God.
Putting It Into Practice