Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2And 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. 3So 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 (NRSV)
God was the first to intentionally set aside time. After six days of creating, the seventh day was set aside as a time to rest, disrupting the steady flow of one day spilling into the next.
Have you noticed how one day spills into the next? One week turns into the next one? The years run together.
God’s intentionality in the early moments of creation deserves our attention. God did not let the days run together, instead God set one of them aside. Just one.
It could not have been easy. God had plenty more work to do, and yet God set aside time to rest and then blessed that day. It is so wild that even God needed rest! But God did. To make rest happen, God was purposefully set some aside.
If you look ahead to the days and weeks on your calendar, can you set aside a time to rest? Can you schedule a two-hour block to visit with a friend and go for a walk by yourself? Can you find a day to hang out and relax with your favorite people? Is there a weekend you might block off for a mini-vacation?
Typically, these things do not magically happen, they require setting aside time before the days and weeks spill into one another.
Long before 21st century busyness, the writer of Ecclesiastes devoted most of a chapter to time. He argued there is enough time for what matters.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NRSV)
The same is true for you. There is a time for every matter that matters in your life. So here is your homework: Set the time aside, like God’s seventh day, and let it be a blessing.
Photo by Malvestida on Unsplash
Lisa Lewton 
Why is this so hard?!
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