S04E73, Holidays, Downtime and Service, Andy B 2 Minute Video
Holidays. From the south of France to Alaska, from Venezuela to New Zealand, people like holidays, and we all need downtime, one way or another, to help recharge those batteries so we can serve God better.
Do you see your holiday as time for you? Or do see holiday as an opportunity to give to God in a different way?
If you are able to enjoy some annual leave, remember that the skill and health that God gave you – that enables you to have a job – is the very reason you are entitled to some time away from that same job.
The bible talks about tithing in the old testament, and this is a great starting place when we consider our giving through the focus of the New Testament. But our money is just as valuable to God as our time. Perhaps, in some ways, our time is even more valuable than any physical things we can bring to God, because our time is influenced by our heart, and our heart is what God loves more than anything else we can bring.
So, do you see your time as your time, or as time that God has blessed you with?
Is God, perhaps, asking you to use the time you have available in a different way? Perhaps a way that means you need to sacrifice some of that well earned annual leave and holiday?
Just a thought...
Andy B
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0:00
Okay so another Andy B 2 Minute Video. And I've been thinking a little bit about holidays, about resting, downtime. What does the balance between work and rest look like? What should it look like? What should we be doing on holidays?
0:20
'Cos Jo and I have just done another podcast episode of Marriage Matters, looking at Work Hard and Play Hard. How do you balance between working and playtime? How do you, how do you balance that if you've got different excited, different excitements? Maybe you like the desert, and hot, dry, arid places, and you're the person that likes the snow? Well, you're gonna have to come to a compromise of some sort, where you can both be happy. So that's what we're looking at.
0:46
But this got me thinking about our time because we think about tithing, we think about an Old Testament method that was used to give to God, give to the temple, give to the priests, and it was a tithe. You gave a 10th of your earnings.
1:00
If we move on to the New Testament, now, it's not just giving a 10th, it's a good starting place, but it's not all we're supposed to do. We don't just religiously hand across 10% of our earnings. Now we need to give of who we are, and 'give generously' says the Bible. But actually giving money is one thing, giving of our harvest is another. But actually giving of our time is something that perhaps we're like, 'Oh, well, this is my time'.
1:23
Maybe you've got a couple of weeks holiday coming up, 'Well that's my time, I work very hard. This is my time, I'm, why would I tithe that to God? Why would I give some of this to God?'
1:33
But, actually, the purpose and the whole point of New Testament giving, which doesn't delete tithing as bad or irrelevant, but it kind of, it's the completion of i,t after Jesus came. Well, that's not about giving a 10th, it's about giving of yourself. And actually giving of yourself isn't just stuff and money. It's also your time. So do give you time to church? Would you take your two week holiday and think I'm going to give my two week holiday to God? Because I've only got that holiday because of health? Because God's given me a job which entitles me to a holiday? Would you use that for God?
2:07
So it got me thinking about how we give money, but would we be quite so generous with our time? With our well earned, two week break? Would you sacrifice some of that to serve in your local church? I don't mean an hour of an evening. I mean, give them three or four days. Could you do that?
2:23
Maybe God's prompting you to do just that?
2:25
Maybe it's not the local church. Maybe it's a national church or the global church, you go off and you help in a mission field somewhere for a week.
2:34
Just a thought.
Andy B, 16/05/2022