Are you on vacation? If not, picture yourself there. If it helps, picture some vacation advertisements – a family walking on the beach hand in hand. A hammock and cold drink. A mountain, or a city, or whatever means rest to you!
It feels good, doesn’t it? It’s proven: in a study published in Journal of Occupational Medicine. Three days after vacation participants reported fewer physical complaints, a more positive mood, and better sleep.
But vacation can’t solve everything. The study found the big picture of life unchanged from vacation. There was no change to general life-satisfaction. Five weeks after the end of vacation only the extent of physical complaints was still significantly smaller as compared to the pre-vacation level. Everything else was back to normal. http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/3/167.full.pdf
So how do we really rest, if hopping on a plane, renting a cottage or vegetating at home just aren’t enough?
It means clearing our heads and hearts, but not by zoning out, bur rather by focusing them on something else….God!
We asked some people: what helps you clear your head on vacation?
Question: What helps you clear your head on vacation? How long does it take to distance yourself from work?
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In Matthew 5:48 Jesus said, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
What's your reaction? Do you laugh? Yeah, right, I'm supposed to be perfect like God!
Or do you feel guilt? I'm so not perfect…but I should be.
Do you try to rationalize it? He doesn't really meant that?
It's not a mistake. This idea comes up elsewhere in the Bible.
i.e. Be holy as I am holy. Leviticus 11:44
Holiness is God's quality. Good, perfect, godly.
Is Jesus really asking us to be like God in some way?
If people were trying to redefine holy to get around this passage from Leviticus, Jesus makes it clear. I really mean I want you to be perfect and holy.
By our usual definitions, it seems overly idealistic.
Something for young, dreamy-eyed people.
But have you ever tried to follow all God’s laws to the letter?
The Sermon on the Mount can be discouraging if we treat it this way, and this line is the cherry on top.
We'll see tomorrow what this means.
Question: Jesus seems to expect the impossible of his followers. How do you react to this?
