“It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep”(Ps 127:2 NASB). This word from God teaches us about being and doing. We live in a world that is always busy. There are cities that boast that they are “the city that never sleeps.” This is because the world defines people by what they do. The world’s push is to always be doing because from their view this is where meaning in life is derived.

In contrast, Christians should focus on being rather than doing. We are defined by our relationship with God and our new nature in Christ. Kenneth Boa explains, “Our primary purpose is not to do something for Christ but to know him; our activities and abilities are useless for the kingdom unless he energizes them, and this will not happen if they take precedence over intimacy with him.”[1] Whatever we do in life should flow from who we are in Christ. We are his beloved, and he blesses us regardless of our doing. This should fill our hearts with the thanksgiving and gratitude, which should ignite us to participate in his kingdom work.

For me to better enjoy the process of being in Christ, I need to enter “God’s rest” (Heb 4;10) on a regular basis in order to be reminded that life is not the chaotic race of doing that the culture portrays, but rather life is about being with God and about his love transforming my life. My life should be focused on being, so that Christ’s life and light is seen flowing through me. 

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[1]  Kenneth Boa. Conformed to His Image: Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation (Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2001), 273-274.