Ordinary Time

Pause

God has many characteristics, but none may be more essential to our understanding than God as Creator.

The very beginning of our Scriptures paints this picture of God, someone who cannot help but make something out of what seems to be nothing.

The Creator God is still at work—in all the universe and in you as well. Free yourself now to be formed in these next quiet moments.

Listen

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

Genesis 2:1–3

Think

Summer break is like a Sabbath from the school year. But summer may bring work of its own. You may be going to camps or mission trips or working on a project, or (gulp) summer school.

There is something wonderful about rest that comes after days of work and productivity. The shower that washes the dirt, paint, or sweat away followed by a good meal and a good night’s rest rejuvenates the body for more. You were designed that way—in the image of the Great Creator who rested after a full week’s work.

Rest is God’s gift to you. If you have learned anything this week from reading the Creation story, I hope it is that God had a plan from the beginning that included you. That plan has a rhythm to it evidenced by the poetic way it has been shared with us in Genesis 1. We are built in such a way that if we don’t take a break, we get broken. Make sure, friend, that over the course of your summer break, you actually take one. Vacation, stay-cation, retreat, respite, rest. Make it happen.

Valerie Burton

Pray

Whatever this summer holds, God, may there be times of rest sprinkled among the days of work, so that I am able to be my best self. Thank you for the gift of Sabbath. Help me to honor it. Amen.

Go

Can you feel that movement, the ever-present hand of the ever-present God? The Creator is at work in you, for you, and through you. Go now to join in the newness that is afoot all around.