A Life with Leisure—Fully Approved by the Lord

Leisure is a major dimension of life. Think about it: For the first five years in our life, we play and then for the last ten or twenty years we retire.

Calculate all the weekends, all the holidays, and all the free evening time, and it becomes even more clear that leisure is a major dimension of life. And since the Bible speaks to all of life, surely it must have a word to say about leisure.

It is significant that so much of our first years on earth are spent playing. Have you ever wondered why God ordained it that way?

Perhaps he did so because play develops character, in that we learn how to be alone, and when we're with others, how to be fair, how to relate, how to enjoy others.

Playing also develops imagination. Boys and girls can spend an entire day in a tree and love every moment of it! Children can play with an old cardboard box and never exhaust its capabilities.

Socrates said he could learn more about a person during an hour of play than during months of conversation. And that's because much of who we are is on display when we play.

Play doesn't have to be a dull, degrading diversion. The play which involves wit and wisdom, an ear for harmony, an eye for color, and feet for rhythm produces a positive delight in life.

Perhaps, then, we should not only sing “Teach me to pray, Lord,” but also “Teach me to play.”

Curiously, the word “leisure” comes from the Latin word Iicere which means “to be permitted.”  But we work-worshipers haven't been willing to give this permission.

For too long leisure has been negatively regarded as “time-awastin'.” For some sick reason we've related Satan to leisure and God to work, and this a terrible distortion of the biblical message.

Work—the fountain of progress, the source of prosperity, the parent of genius—has long been one of America's most beloved idols. Why, America was built on hard work!

In fact, the early American settlers didn't know what to do with themselves when they weren't working. They couldn't even sit still! And so do you know what they did? They invented the rocking chair!

This preference for work finds examples in Scripture. In Exodus 18 we find Moses carrying an enormous workload, until finally Jethro, his father-in-law said, “What you are doing is not good.” You will wear yourself out (Exodus 18:17).

In Luke, we find Martha, a workaholic if there was one, “cumbered about with much serving.”  What company wouldn't want to have Martha in their employ?

Someone said that a sign goes up when men are working, but women work all the time.

When we kids saw the sign—Slow, men working—we thought it funny to yell, “work faster,” when our father drove by.

Now, I recognize that the dichotomy between work and pleasure can be a false one. How enthralling work can be, particularly as it meets needs and challenges one's capabilities to be creative. The artist, the musician, the author, the engineer, the sculptor all begin with an inner conception, a visceral feeling which by painstaking labor they bring to fulfillment.

Many other people had higher IQs than Einstein and Oppenheimer, but it was their capacity to imagine that led to their legendary achievements.

So, yes, there is a joy to be found in labor.

Creativity, it should be noted, isn't just limited to artsy professions; farmers, mechanics, businessmen, and ladies who work at home find many opportunities for creativity, too.

Centuries ago, Aristotle observed that a nation which doesn't know how to use its leisure will collapse. But in America today, leisure (that supposedly rare treasure), has become a burden, a fraud, a crushing bore. The golden years have become the empty years. The life of leisure as daily worshiped in certain magazines is proving to be more demora1izing than the strain of work.

The only time the word “leisure” is found in the Bible is in Mark 6:31 where we read: “For many were coming and going and they had no leisure even to eat.”

If that isn't a commentary on our culture!

It used to be that mealtimes were special, a time when family gathered around the table, enjoying one another's company and discussing the events of the day. But not anymore! Our agendas are so overcrowded we “eat on the run.”

Not wanting this true about family life, God gave instructions to parents that identified four opportunities for teaching their children, and one of these involved leisure: when you are, “walking in the way” (Deuteronomy 6:7).

This refers to leisurely walks! Walking in the mountains, walking by the sea, or perhaps walking in the woods near your house. What a wonderful time to reflect on the beauties of God's creation while you spend time together as a family.

You are aware that the miracles Jesus preformed weren't just raw displays of supernatural power proving what he could do. Instead, each miracle communicated what his kingdom was like. The first miracle, the turning of water into wine at Cana, certainly did this.

The wedding feast was a major highlight of Jewish life, lasting one week, maybe even two. The poor would save all their life for that festive occasion!

So when Jesus performed his miracle, he was saying that this kingdom is just like the wedding feast they so thoroughly enjoyed. The food, the drink, the laughter, the friendships, people enjoying one another—all this is like the festivity of the kingdom! And one day this will be consummated at the Messianic banquet table (Revelation 19:9; Isaiah 25:6).

Pleasure in and of itself isn't wrong. In fact, according to Psalms 16:11, “at His right hand (meaning God's) are pleasure forevermore.” So pleasure isn't Satan's idea; it's God's idea. Satan only corrupts what God creates.

For pleasure to be at God's right hand is to be accorded a place of honor and esteem. And for it to be there forevermore means pleasure is not brief, then suddenly gone—it is eternal!

Therefore, the idea of pleasure being thought of as “killing time” can't be right. Pleasure will outlast time! And as for earth, pleasure belongs in God's instruction to redeem the time.

We can easily imagine Heaven providing pleasure, but what may tax our imagination a bit is thinking of God participating in the pleasure.

We can imagine the smile on his face as he watches us enjoying ourselves. But will he do more than watch?

The Bible never says that it reveals all that's true about God. The angels know his holiness, we know his love; but something else, perhaps, is hidden. And I'm intrigued by C.S. Lewis' suggestion that what may be hidden is his mirth: his capacity for gladness and glee which are so inextricably connected with leisure.