How To Make A Holy Moment

Just the tiniest of words to you tonight... it jumped off the page at me and stuck in my mind all day:

"God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done." Genesis 2:3

The seventh day was holy. Why? Because "he rested in it."

It was special... because he took a moment to stop.

It was sacred above all others... because he ceased creating and surveyed and smiled.

If God was an American, all the other six days would be the holy ones and the seventh day would be called "vacation" and we'd kind of pretend like it was less important than the others.

But he called the resting Holy. He exalted it.

We have been given an example, and in this example we have been given an amazing (dare I say supernatural?) power... to make Holy Moments. To create Holy Space. To set aside a Sabbath. To step into a Tabernacle. To meet the Lord. And it's so simple, we often miss it... rest.

We only need to lay down our frantic hands, lift up our heads, and rest.

That's a magical moment right there. That moment is made holy. We are met. We receive. He is good.

That's all.

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Ok, ok... just kidding... one more thing.

A zillion years ago I saw a Jackie Chan movie... in which he gets stranded in this backwater peasant Chinese town. He has to help plant rice. Every day he rushes to be the fastest planter. Every evening he is so sore and tired he can barely move, and his work is so bad it has to be redone. He can't figure out how everyone around him can finish their work well and still be full of life... then he begins to notice... every time a breeze comes by, everyone stops. They stand up. They raise their arms. They close their eyes. They feel the breeze. And then they continue. They are refreshed. He tries it. It radically changes his life.

That movie clip has spoken truth to me many times since then. But I don't remember the name of the film. I've searched for it on YouTube a million times. Take my word for it.

This is what God builds into our life rhythm from the very beginning of creation: Rest. And it isn't a waste of time and it isn't a sign of weakness and it isn't a cop out. It is essential. So essential, he calls it Holy so we'll pay attention. And when I want a visual picture of what that looks like and why that's true.... I think of Jackie Chan... standing in the rice patty... feeling the breeze.