Then Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to serve
us; we weren’t made to serve the Sabbath. The Son of Man is no lackey to the
Sabbath. He’s in charge!” (Mark 2:27).
This
verse came to mind as I was heading out on vacation. Only this time, in
addition to reading this verse in my New
Revised Standard Version Bible, I also looked it up The Message Bible (quoted above).
That
word “lackey” jumped out at me. It’s
not a word I use, nor is it a word I come across very often. A quick Google
search took me to merriam-webster.com and its definition: “Servant...someone who does menial tasks or runs errands
for another.”
Jesus
came to serve; yet nothing He does is menial. After all, as God coming to us in
human flesh, Jesus Christ is in charge.
I find
this “lackey” definition a helpful reminder when it comes to taking time off;
particularly with technology following us to nearly every corner of the globe. You
see,
You see, I
was debating whether or not to turn off my cell-phone during vacation because there’s
always the thought that if something comes up I can always be reached…and I
must always be reached – right?!?!
Yet if I leave my cell phone on, am I really fully taking time off? But, when I turn my phone off, why do I feel guilty? Especially when almost ¾ of people surveyed say cell phones add to the stress in their lives. Isn’t the purpose of vacation to be a stress-reducer?
We
come across lots of occasions in the Bible when God’s people took way too much
control of way too many things, and that still happens today. This would explain
my own conflict about what to do with the cell phone on vacation.
I
think the struggle I felt about turning it off is a symptom of something more; that
is that we get used to taking charge, and our controlling things then becomes a
habit that leaves God standing there on the sidelines.
May
this conflict be our reminder that God being-in-charge is God giving us a clean
and clear conscience to renew ourselves – it’s God saying “I got this…so go
ahead, enjoy yourself!”
Together
We Serve,
Pastor Mike
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