Part Four in the Series

Hang with me when I ask this question, What do you think went through God’s mind on the first seventh day after creation? Read Genesis 2:1-3:

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.

I know…imagining what God was thinking is a bit preposterous to ask…but this passage fascinates me. Think of the whole of creation being made–right down to the blade a grass, blooming flowers, rainbow trout, humanity, and the mosquito (why God?). Scripture says the heavens and earth were completed in all their vast array. Spectacular!

Yet, something else, something more was to come. God rested, or paused, or stopped to take a breathe in, and consider what he had done and made. It was on this day that something was made HOLY–a day. A day to pause, to consider, to…DELIGHT.

I think that is what God did on that first seventh day. He delighted to the extent that He made the first thing holy in all creation–a day to pause and delight.

Does that grab your attention? It should.

Stopping and pausing have become lost arts today in the lives of many (perhaps you). The pace of life leaves little room for stopping to simply delight in what has been, or is right now.

Is it possible that we have forsaken the most important, holy thing in all creation? The art and habits of delight modeled by God and then brought to humanity as a foundational ingredient for a healthy, thriving life–Rhythm of six days lived one way and one day lived differently. (R=6+1)

So let me challenge you to do something bold. Take an hour, or a few hours, or even a whole day (imagine that!) to simply stop, look, listen, and DELIGHT–To delight in your work, whatever it may be within or outside the home, to delight in life’s varied blessings, creation, family, friends, anything that moves your heart toward gratitude.

Maybe this challenge to stop and rest in delight is more preposterous than trying to imagine what God was thinking on that first seventh day!

Delight and gratitude are directly linked to the joy center of the brain that literally releases chemicals that link to resiliency and overcome depression, anxiety and stress. Spoiler alert–God may actually know what He is doing and is quite intentional in what He encourages (actually commands) us to do in the creation of our weekly rhythms. We are to stop, cease, pause, rest and delight one day every six days of work (being on) which we have written about extensively in our previous devotions in this series.

On Altar retreats this year, we declare one day of our retreats a day of delight to help us learn the habits of delighting–which are to continue every week after the retreat. While many of you reading this may not have the opportunity to be with us on retreat this year, we want you to learn to delight just the same.

Next Steps:

In the next seven days, set aside one part of one day to do nothing but delight. 

Write a list of what you are delighting in. If you need help, here are just a few categories of life to consider: God, God’s creation, grace and mercy in your life, spouse or family, work, little things, or big things.

Take your time and pay attention to what happens within you as you write your list.. Hint, something good happens within you when you delight, and you need this goodness on a frequent basis. It is why God made it holy.

Now, look at your calendar for the next month or more and create space for you to delight every seven days. You will be well on your way of learning the habits of delight.

_{Eric Camfield | May 2023}