Intentional Rest
There is nothing more synonymous in the 20th century than the rise and implementation of technology. The car, air travel, computers, and telecommunications were all ideas in their infancy when the 20th century began. By the beginning of the 21st century, though, all of these technologies had become household staples in our lives.
The really interesting thing that accompanied this rapid rise in technological development was the prediction of how this new tech would shape the normal workweek. It was almost a foregone conclusion that by the 21st century we would be working far less and instead have much more leisure time. In 1930, the famed economist James Maynard Keynes predicted, “We may be on the eve of improvements in the efficiency of food production as great as those which have already taken place in mining, manufacture, and transport. In quite a few years-in our own lifetimes I mean-we may be able to perform all the operations of agriculture, mining, and manufacture with a quarter of the human effort to which we have been accustomed.”[1] Keynes would even go on to predict a 15-hour workweek as the norm by the 21st century! From his seat, and he wasn’t alone in this, these weren’t just predictions; they were forgone conclusions. We’re reading this now in the 21st century, and while advancements in technology have made us more efficient, they have not resulted in the leisure or downtime that Keynes and his contemporaries assumed.
Side note… We also shouldn’t be surprised at a new round of these same predictions. Just recently, Elon Musk predicted that work will be optional in 20 years.[2]
In fact, quite the opposite has happened. Our technology has made us more connected, more efficient, driven us to work longer hours, and become largely more stressed out than previous generations. By some estimations, the average American worker actually works 10-20% more hours per year than most European countries. Let me caution us: this might not be the flex or brag that we think it is. Our increased workload today is not only adding physical stress to our lives, but it is increasingly adding psychological stress and emotional burdens that previous generations didn’t have to manage. That doesn’t mean life wasn’t difficult before; it just means that we have excelled at making life hard in new ways. So why didn’t Keynes’ predictions of leisure and rest come true, and what can we do about it? Here is a biblical perspective.
We are wired to be part of it all. – From the very beginning (Gen. 1-2), humanity was created to work and to create. Don’t miss this: work and the act of creating were pronounced good by God and existed before sin did in the garden. Our drive to create things, build things, and engage in purposeful work is actually a reflection of our design by a Holy God. He himself is creative and delights in working… that is how the universe came to be after all. So in the Christian perspective, work is not something to be avoided at all costs, nor is it seen as an evil that is only the result of sin. It is part of the original design, and in Christ, it is something that we can use to give God glory (1 Cor 10:31).
We often are short-sighted. – The problem isn’t work; it is us. In his book, Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller says that the human heart is an idol factory. And you know what, so does the Bible (Jer. 17:9)! We have this unique ability to turn just about anything into an object of worship, and that includes work. I must confess that for too many years I bought into the idea of being busy as a definition of my value, worth, and significance. Yes, I believe that there are things that are worthy of working hard for and investing significant time in. But even those things and that action of work don’t give me meaning, value, or ultimate purpose; Christ Jesus does. My short-sighted perspective on busyness was actually an idol to work. Maybe work isn’t your idol, but family or materialistic things are, and that drives your short-sighted perspective on work. From Genesis 3 through Revelation, the Bible speaks over and over again about the pervasive problem of idolatry and the human heart. Work is just one prominent expression in our moment. The only way to correct our disproportionate relationship with work is not to simply “work less.” It is to have our identities renewed, reformed, and reconciled in Christ so that we can be set free from that idolatry and set forward into intentional rest.
We need intentional rest so that we can say yes to the best things and not just chase good things at a feverous pace.
Intentional rest was a gift from God. – Christians for the last 2,000 years have talked about rest using the word Sabbath. It is a wonderful word, but one that might be a bit confusing for us. So what is it? Simply, Sabbath is intentional and purposeful rest. The whole reason that God rested on the seventh day and commanded that we keep the Sabbath (Ex. 20:10-11) was not that he was tired and needed a nap; it was a gift to you and me so that we would be reminded that our work is not the source of our worth. Instead, our worth comes exclusively from our relationship with God himself. But intentional rest isn’t merely doing nothing or just “vegging out.” Here is how one author described the process of intentional rest, “One of the first things we learned was that proper sabbathing is much more about doing than not doing. It’s about doing restful things. Often our inclination to stop and veg out ended up being counterproductive. Some of it was exactly what we need, especially what our bodies need, which is some downtime and the refreshment of laughter. But our souls need more than to do nothing; they need to do restful things. In this sense, real rest takes real work.”[3] We need intentional rest as a gift for our souls and as a reminder that we can’t do everything or get everything done. In other words, there is always something more to do. Tragically, when we get in the frantic pace of chasing the “more to do,” we end up choosing a whole lot of good things, but miss the truly great things. Intentional rest helps us to reset, refocus, and be restored so that we can say yes to the great things God has for us.
So how do we start? – Three steps. [4]
- Pick a twenty-four-hour period. Ideally, we all sabbath on the same day. But it’s better to do something than nothing. A pastor, a med student, a retiree, and a working mother would probably all choose different times to sabbath. I find Saturday sundown to Sunday sundown to be the best for my job and most of my friends’ lives. The important part is picking a period and communicating it to the people who need to know or who are doing it with you.
- Doing and not doing. You may need time to figure out what makes a worshipful and restful Sabbath for you. If you’re just starting, it may help to write down three things to do and three things you want to avoid. They may change as you go, but writing them down will help you to not only think it through but also to be accountable.
- Communal sabbaths. Sabbathing in community is a great way to get into a rhythm. Honor the sabbath in a friend group by having a regular communal meal. To keep it restful, you need a good division of labor. The host can’t do all the cooking and all the cleaning. Maybe you can get in the habit of all bringing something to one house and all cleaning together afterward, with lots of conversation in between.
[1] Keynes, J. M. (1963). Economic possibilities for our grandchildren. In Essays in persuasion (pp. 358-373). W. W. Norton & Company. (Original work published 1930) Accessed via: http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf
[2] https://fortune.com/2025/12/01/forget-the-four-day-workweek-elon-musk-predicts-you-wont-have-to-work-at-all-in-less-than-20-years-billionaire-success-wealth/
[3] Earley, Justin Whitmel. The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction (p. 149). (Function). Kindle Edition.
[4] Earley, Justin Whitmel. The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction (pp. 156-157). (Function). Kindle Edition.