Thesis 39 We must model for our children how to be hard-resting and joyful.
It is something of a yuppie cliché, that we ought to work hard and play hard. Like many clichés, this one latches on to at least a kernel of truth. God did not merely command us to work six days, but He in turn commanded us to rest one day. Both work and rest are part and parcel of what it means to reflect the image of God. Both are essential to living healthy, God-honoring lives. While playing “hard” may not be the exact equivalent of the biblical notion of resting, it gets at something we often miss. Resting is not merely the cessation of labor, but is the celebration of labor, and of the grace of God.
In the church we have this common struggle. We either do not enter into the reality of our sin, the command of God to be perfect, and our constant failure, or, on the other side of the coin, when we do grasp the depth of our sin, too often we don’t sufficiently rejoice in the grace of God. We sometimes seem to think that if we stay glum enough, that our sorrow will help atone for our sins. In both instances we miss out on the depth, the scope and the glory of the grace of God.
We have sinned much, but we have been forgiven much. When the prodigal son returns to his father, the father does not merely declare his son not guilty, and move on. No, the best robe is brought forth, the ring is put on the son’s finger, and the fatted calf is slaughtered that there might be a feast. In like manner we need to learn to celebrate the grace of God in our lives. When we rest, we must rest, remembering that it is not the depth of our sorrow that covers our sins. It is not the depth of understanding of our sins. It is not our fidelity in this spiritual exercise or that. We have peace with God, are adopted into His family because of the work of His Son, brought to us by a faith wrought in us by His Spirit.
Do your children see you rejoicing in this reality? Do they witness you weeping in joy for the beauty of the gospel? Do they see you sinning, repenting, and then laughing for the prodigal love and forgiveness of our heavenly Father? Do they see you, at the end of a hard-working day, looking at the feast set before you on the dinner table, stunned at the overflowing grace of God, that He does not give us bread daily, but mashed potatoes and gravy, steaming bowls of homemade vegetable soup and bread, salads sprinkled with dainties from all across the globe? Do your children see you rejoicing before the Lord? God commands that we do so, (see Deuteronomy 14:22-27) not in the end for our well-being. Nor does He call us to do this for the sake of our children. He calls us to this feasting before Him for His sake. Our Father delights to see His children delight in His grace.