God's Gift of Time
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Ex. 20:8-10, NIV.
In our high-tech, stress-filled, busy world of work we need a weekly, 24 hours of downtime. We need to rest from the overstimulation of our body’s adrenal system, the root of many modern stress problems. That’s why God gave us the Sabbath. “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27, NIV). People were to work for six days and rest for one—a rhythm that history has shown to fit human life.
People have tried other rhythms. For instance, in 1793 the French adopted a calendar of 12 months of 30 days each. Workers stayed on the job for nine days and rested on the tenth. Soon, though, they discontinued that calendar as unworkable because workers didn’t want to work nine days before getting a day of rest.
During World War II the United States and Great Britain speeded up the production of war materials. Many factories went to 74-hour workweeks. Before long they realized that their employees were averaging only 66 hours of actual work. These same factory workers complained about feeling irritable. Morale dropped. Accidents increased. Spoilage soared.
Factory owners soon decreased the workweek. In the United States some factories added more workers and others introduced three eight-hour shifts instead of increasing the hours of the single shift. What were the results? They had higher production, fewer spoiled items, lower rates of absenteeism, and better morale.
In Great Britain when they reduced the number of working hours to 48 a week (eight-hour days, six days a week), production went up. The British then went so far as to declare a mandatory rest of one day each week and gave their workers two weeks of annual vacation.
The idea of resting one full day out of every seven is as old as the beginning of the human race. It was God’s gift to the human race to preserve life and health. Isn’t it about time we enjoyed God’s gift of time?
How can you reap the health benefits from the Sabbath day as God intended?
In our high-tech, stress-filled, busy world of work we need a weekly, 24 hours of downtime. We need to rest from the overstimulation of our body’s adrenal system, the root of many modern stress problems. That’s why God gave us the Sabbath. “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27, NIV). People were to work for six days and rest for one—a rhythm that history has shown to fit human life.
People have tried other rhythms. For instance, in 1793 the French adopted a calendar of 12 months of 30 days each. Workers stayed on the job for nine days and rested on the tenth. Soon, though, they discontinued that calendar as unworkable because workers didn’t want to work nine days before getting a day of rest.
During World War II the United States and Great Britain speeded up the production of war materials. Many factories went to 74-hour workweeks. Before long they realized that their employees were averaging only 66 hours of actual work. These same factory workers complained about feeling irritable. Morale dropped. Accidents increased. Spoilage soared.
Factory owners soon decreased the workweek. In the United States some factories added more workers and others introduced three eight-hour shifts instead of increasing the hours of the single shift. What were the results? They had higher production, fewer spoiled items, lower rates of absenteeism, and better morale.
In Great Britain when they reduced the number of working hours to 48 a week (eight-hour days, six days a week), production went up. The British then went so far as to declare a mandatory rest of one day each week and gave their workers two weeks of annual vacation.
The idea of resting one full day out of every seven is as old as the beginning of the human race. It was God’s gift to the human race to preserve life and health. Isn’t it about time we enjoyed God’s gift of time?
How can you reap the health benefits from the Sabbath day as God intended?
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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