Deuteronomy 12:10-11

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"... when he giveth you rest front all your enemies round about.... Then there shall be a place." Deu 12:10-11

There are temporary rests on the road of life. The battle is sometimes suspended, and we know not when it may be resumed. Some spiritual use is to be made even of temporary cessations of difficulty. The religious use which was to be made in ancient times of periods of rest expressed itself in the building of altars and the offering of sacrifices. Ancient life seemed to be divided between war and worship. In reality that distribution would seem to be continued throughout all time. The Christian is either in the field of battle or in the house of prayer. Even rest is not to be spent slothfully, but is to be enjoyed with a religious purpose as well as to be inspired by religious thankfulness. When Jesus Christ offered his disciples rest, it was only for a limited time. His words were, "Come ye into a desert place, and rest a while," not rest a long time, and certainly not rest for the remainder of your days, but rest a while take a breath, stand still for a moment, and then resume with energy the pursuits of life. The holiday is only to make the subsequent labour more energetic and hopeful. We are not to use rest as a confection which would give us distaste for labour. Nor are we to use rest as a kind of opiate which would disable the very powers it affects to renew. Even rest may be a form of labour, or, at least, it may be so enjoyed as to give the soul promise of renewed endeavour to redeem human life and bless the human lot, now so full of sadness, and now so enfeebled by weariness. It is but cowardice for men to run away from labour that they may enjoy inglorious ease. When merchant-men succeed in laying by sufficient to maintain themselves in comfort, they should be planning some new sphere of activity, so that they may better serve their day and generation when they are released from the wear and tear of the drudgery of life. No man is to say to his soul, Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry; he is rather to say, I have no further care about the body; now shall my soul have full swing in the highest and best activity. This is the true preparation before the Sabbath the Sabbath of heaven.