Day 45: Rest. Again.

"The story is told of a South American tribe that went on a long march, day after day, when all of a sudden they would stop walking, sit down to rest for a while, and then make camp for a few days before going any further.  They explained that they needed that time of rest so that their souls could catch up with them."  - Wayne Muller

This is swiftly becoming my favourite walking day - the day that I don't walk at all.  Not because I don't love the walking - and I'm thankful for the challenge and the opportunity to experience weathers I would normally hide from - but because there is something about the resting that brings out the joy and the hard work and the 'flavour' of walking during the rest of the week.

I believe that it is possible to rest in a way that pleases God - as with anything in our lives that does not break His laws. You can eat in a way that honours Him.  Watch films to honour Him.  Walk to honour Him.  Work hard to honour Him.  Go sailing.  Go shopping.  Read a book.  Play with your nieces and nephews.  It doesn't have to be listening to a sermon or praying in order to be something that is done to His glory.  So enjoy your resting today - and so will I!

Day 38: The Narrow Road

Today is, gloriously, a day of rest. I was considering whether to walk to church tonight when I remembered that it is my guilt-free day off.  What a joy.  The sermon this morning was very applicable for my blog, all about the two roads that the world walks on during this life.

"The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it."  Matthew 7.13-14

You would think that Jesus would spend ages explaining why the 'wide road' is not the one to be on, but He actually makes it sound pretty appealing at first.  'The way is easy.'  How much we would love to stroll through life on an easy road - a road that requires you to do nothing, a road of self-indulgence, a road that is full of friends who will never challenge what you believe or do or say.  Conversely, the narrow road is defined as a hard road.  A road that requires you to make decisions (hard ones), a road of self-denial, a hard and difficult and lonely road.  Doesn't sound too appealing.

The problem is that the wide road, the one that lets you off and makes everything easy and doesn't require any difficult decisions of faith or practice, "leads to destruction".  The narrow road may be very difficult and hard and lonely and weary, but it is also short.  You spend perhaps 80 or 90 years on a hard road (less, for some), but  the entirety of the rest of time is spent in a place of ultimate joy, with no hard roads or difficult decisions or frustrations or pain or sorrow ever again.  Whereas those who have enjoyed their easy and fun and popular life face pain and sorrow and horror and regret and anger and bitterness for the rest of the second life, beyond time as we know it.

Makes the narrow road a little more appealing after all.  Walk on!

Watch the sermon here: 
Which Road? - Matthew 7v13-14 from Airdrie RPCS on Vimeo.

Day 7: Remember The Sabbath Day

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall do no work; you, nor your son or daughter, or your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.  Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."  -Exodus 20.8-11

"And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day."  -Deuteronomy 5.15

It's wonderful that today is the seventh day of my walking, and it also falls on the first day of the week, a day of rest!  Today as on all Sundays I rest from my exercise as well as other things, but it was an act of necessity to walk to church today!  It was a beautiful walk, crisp and clear, with icy snow underfoot and even the bright sun not melting it.  There are piles of snow everywhere, beautiful white snow and horrible grimy brown snow, but  most people are resting today - not by commandment, but by requirement.  God has brought the snow, and their cars and their families have to rest.

What a beautiful thing it is to rest not because we have to, but because it's a gift from God.