Reflect, Rest, and Rise
My dad called it “burning the candle at both ends.”
“You will get burned.” He would say.
This 17th-century idiom was an indication of someone being wasteful. In those days candles were expensive and needed to be used sparingly. Later, the candle came to symbolize someone’s life force and burning it at both ends meant expending it wastefully at a rapid rate.[1]
In the narrative of creation, we see the Almighty separate the darkness from the light:
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:3–5)
It is verse five that puzzled me. “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”
The 24-hour period began each day at twilight, sunset!
From my Western lens the day begins with my feet hitting the floor at sunrise and ends when sleep finds my eyes. But from the very beginning, the day has begun when we are climbing into bed. This idea was almost painful for me to grasp. It hurt my brain. I have been living from this point of view for 40 years. As I wrestled with this concept, I realize how merciful and gracious our Creator is!
He desires for us to live a life from a daily place of rest. He wants us to start each morning with a surplus.
As the creation story continues, we see this phrase repeat for each day; “And there was evening and there was morning, the _____ day.” The new day is welcomed at a sunset.
The culmination is on the seventh day:
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2:1–3)
The intricate work of creation lasted all six days. In that evening as the sun was setting, God had put His finishing touches on the crown of creation, mankind.
As the sun set, His work ceased.
He rested. He enjoyed all that He had made. It was a day of reflection, joy and shalom.
The tendency to overwork ourselves is common, so it’s no wonder the first pages of Scripture instruct us to follow the Creator’s example to shavat (Hebrew for rest/cease) on the seventh day. As one of the Ten Commandments, it always seemed to me the least offensive, more like a suggestion than a command.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)
Everybody has boundaries. We are created in God’s image. He has boundaries too.
When He instituted Shabbat, it was a weekly time to cease … to rest. That’s what Shabbat means: to stop.
Even the moon governs the tides in the ocean and tells it to come no further, to stop.
How much more the Lord of the Shabbat? It is His gift to us to protect and sustain us.
What if rest was our biggest weapon and sweetest ally? How would life be different if we allowed His rhythm of rest and rise to be our own?
The 17th-century community compared the value of humanity to a precious resource like a candle, a holder of light. Before the ease of electricity, candles were a treasured commodity. As evening darkness fell, they were ignited, and new days began with reading, writing, and journaling by candlelight.
To burn the candle at both ends was wasteful and foolish.
How much more value are you than a candle?
Your life force is a gift from the Creator, and it is precious to Him.
He values us. He loves us and wants us to thrive.
He wants us to finish our course well but that means stopping when it’s appropriate.
“If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of bringing success.” (Ecclesiastes 10:10)
Written by Kori, Life in Messiah Staff
(1) Have your last few weeks been marked by purposeful rest or by burning the candle at both ends?
(2) What would it look like if one day this week you were to set aside email, work … even your phone, and focus on the Lord and those you love?
(3) Want to read more? Here is a link to another blog I wrote on the same topic: https://lifeinmessiah.org/blog/shabbats-shadow.