People who are employed in a secular profession are able to take a “day off” every now and then if they have built up time based upon the benefits of their employ other than maybe a normal day off such as Saturday and Sunday. The business goes on uninterrupted even on their day off. A “day off” is one in which someone doesn’t have to work; someone else takes their place. What if the Lord took a day off, a half day off, an hour off or even a second off? No one works or can work in His place. We are told about God and His Son in Heb. 3:1 that He is, “…upholding all things by the word of his power…” If He takes time off, there is no automatic pilot to keep the universe running as He upholds all things by the word of His power. Everything would fall apart worldwide and universe wide if God and His Son were to take time off.
People work continuously on their job, perhaps seven days a week at times, and they get tired and exhausted and need a day off. The Lord never gets tired or weary and never needs a day off. Isaiah said, “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. ” (Isa. 20:28). Notice Isaiah says that He “fainteth not, neither is weary” to which all people are subject but not God. Then how great is our God? The truth is we will never know until we arrive in heaven’s pure world. However, His greatness is to be praised in a particular place and way as Psalm 48:1 declares: “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.” Praised in the church Jesus established upon the Rock of Ages cleft for us. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion.
The Pastor of the church where God is praised never takes a day off as he is always on call twenty four hours a day. Firemen and policeman are also on call but not always; they do get a day off from work but not so the ministry. And by the way, it is a work and labour as Paul calls their calling to be the “work of the ministry” in Eph. 4:12. Many also need to work in a secular job to make a living for their families as the church may not be able to fully support them and their families in a financial way. Paul describes all the things he endured for the cause of Christ in preaching the gospel such as shipwreck, beatings, stoning and all kinds of perils. Then besides all this that came upon him daily, Paul says there was bestowed upon him “the care of all the churches.” (II Cor. 11:28). Pastors that are true to their calling, however, seldom complain about being on call and never taking a day off as they are ready to minister to the Lord’s people when called upon. They are to be instant in season and out of season as Paul admonishes Timothy. Â Oh, they may go on vacation now and then, but even then there is no true vacation as they are cognizant of their flock continually and praying for their welfare and cut short any so-called vacation many times to minister to those in need.
As a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christian never gets a day off. It is a continuous work of faith and labour of love. If a day is taken off from serving the Lord, the devil is ever ready to pounce upon this opportunity to rob the Christian of the joys of their salvation. Paul describes this as forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, pressing toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God. (Phil. 3:13-14). This is a daily service that isn’t to be taken lightly and Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). Notice how Jesus says that our cross is to be taken up “daily” and not just on Sunday. In my estimation, Christians are taking a day off when they absence themselves from the worship service of God on Sunday without a valid reason.
The next time we complain about never having a day off, just think what would happen if the Lord ever took a day off or even a second off. Then we would really have something to complain about. Count it a blessing and privilege to be worthy of serving the risen Lord through His blood shed at Calvary.–February 15, 2016–Elder Larry Wise
