Rest

Apr 30, 2010 by Jamie Schreiber, Dave Archer Listen

Add to my study list

Downloads

MP4 Video - 1080p (153.91 MB)

MP4 Video - 720p (56.87 MB)

MP4 Video - low quality (30.06 MB)

MP3 Audio (1.17 MB)

It never ends, does it? Waking up at the crack of dawn, working longer hours, running errands, keeping up with chores, rarely taking time to slow down. Thankfully, God already gave us the answer to the never-ending cycle of stress: the Sabbath. God's instruction to keep a weekly rest was more than just an instruction—it's for your benefit and it can be a welcome break from your hectic life. Watch this video and see if it seems familiar.

In 2009, Dave Archer and I met as students at Ambassador Bible Center. Before that, I was a videographer. Dave was surfing in Australia.

Dave and I had the idea to produce short Christian films that would teach a lesson in five minutes or less. We started producing them without knowing exactly what we would do with them. We presented them to the United Church of God and now they are being featured in the UCG Short films section!

There are four parts to this series: Stones, Rest, Snow, and Leaves. I hope you enjoy these films!

-Jamie Schreiber

Transcript

Rushing is like a drug for people these days. Almost like they believe that an increase in action will equal an increase in self-worth and validation. So every minute is quickly filled with anything that can be shoved into it, until we’re left with nothing more than a never-ending stress cycle.

There is something depressing about living nonstop. With its ability to blur days together, our lives can be enveloped by the desire of riches, knowledge, and honor. Rushing’s addictive nature can leave us consumed with pushing the clock as hard as we can. And like jaded junkies looking for our next time hit, many precious moments are overwhelmed by worthless actions. Is working a 6-day, 60-hour week worth it? As a result of this, we’ve got ruined homes and unhealthy bones. There’s rising pollution, rising crimes, rising bills, and rising blood pressure, not to mention noisy neighbors, massive taxes, identity theft, natural disasters, disease, war, terrorism.

What if I were to tell you that this is not the way we were designed to live? That you’re not meant to be continuously struggling with your independent self-existence. The question is, should we break the cycle? When it comes to God’s way of life as defined in the Bible, most people will only focus on the negatives. So straight from the start, God’s perfect way gets a bad rap. Thankfully, the Bible says something quite the opposite. Instead of being chained, God’s supreme desire is actually for you to be free – free of negative, nonstop action seven days a week. Free to keep the Sabbath. Did you know that God in His great lovingkindness commands us to take a break to relax and unwind? The Saturday Sabbath is a day unlike any other, in which we can disconnect from the plugged in society around us and break the cycle that holds so many captive. The results of this are amazing in that it frees up huge amounts of time for us to focus on the important things like relationships with family, close friends, and God. Compared to the world’s destructively frantic pace, God’s holy Sabbath day is a massive blessing, able to turn your world from a never-ending stress cycle into a peaceful life you can truly enjoy.

Sabbath