Good morning…
We often miss two words in the following sentence. By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested (Genesis 2:2, CEV). We focus our attention on “work” and “rest,” understanding our need to rock between both. Unfortunately, we overlook the words “finish” and “his.”
When my mind’s eye gets tired, I envision two dream jobs.
First, I would love to be a walking mail woman. In my old fashioned dream-scenario, I walk to the post office and pick up a hefty sack of mail, my single responsibility to accomplish for the day. I happily walk my route in sunshine-and-seventy, chatting with neighbors as I tuck each individual letter into its correct mailbox. My full sack is empty by day’s end.
Second, I would love to be a shoe saleswoman. In my fluffed up dream-scenario, I own a little shoe store in a small town where I know everyone’s name. People, young and old, come to me with their needs. I measure every foot on one of those heavy, silver foot rulers, and, once the perfect size is determined, each person chooses a favorite shoe style from my variety-packed shelves. I go in the back room, locate their box, and, like finding Cinderella, I slip the perfect shoe on each unique foot.
To what two words do these silly dream jobs allude? “Finish” and “my.” An empty mail sack. The right shoe on each foot. By day’s end, “my” job is delightfully “finished.”
Up until this very moment, I feel like “my” daily job is never “finished.” Yesterday’s unending needs seep into today’s priorities while tomorrow’s concerns pile on too. Fast forward to Jesus. God is teaching me right now fresh truth from his life.
I meet Christ hanging on the cross hand-hewn for “his” arm span. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30, NIV).
We know “It is finished,” is not the end of Jesus’ story. Think three days in the tomb. Think resurrection power. Think activating in his followers God’s Holy Spirit. Yet, by the end of that dreadful day, Jesus accomplishes “his” single task, dying on the cross, and “It is finished,” are the last words gracing his lips.
Might I learn to “rest” at the end of each “work” day? Could I stretch out fully on “my” cross every day, exhaling “It is finished,” as my spirit drops to bed? In the morning, God will resurrect a brand new day and the Holy Spirit will again fill my lungs, but before each night of rest, “my” work is “finished.”
Amen.
…Sue…
