Addicted and Enslaved to Busyness

Our culture has become addicted and enslaved to busyness

• We’ve made idols out of schedules and to-do lists.
• We are in bondage to Daytimers and Datebooks.
• We are captivated by calendars and addicted to agendas.
• We schedule our scheduling and we plan our planning
• We TiVo our televisions and microwave our Pop Tarts
• We’re overbooked and Overworked
• We rise up early and stay up late
• We eat out, work out, stress out and pass out
• We have more and more to do in less and less time.
• We are running in every direction and going nowhere
• We have more communication devices and less communication
• We have more labor saving devices and have never been busier.
• We may own our own business but our busyness owns us.
• We are ashamed to take a break and afraid to rest
• Our culture has become addicted and enslaved to busyness

Alina Tugend, of the New York Times, wrote: “In our busy, busy world… those who are overworked and overwhelmed complain ceaselessly, it is often with an undertone of boastfulness; the hidden message is that I’m so busy because I’m so important.” She also said this: “Not only are we constantly occupied, but we, as Americans, are also famous for not knowing how to be unoccupied.”

Explaining one of the paradoxes of our time, Dr. Hallowell, author of “CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked and About to Snap,” says it is in part the desire for control that has led people to lose it. He said, “You can feel like a tin can surrounded by a circle of a hundred powerful magnets… Many people are excessively busy because they allow themselves to respond to every magnet: tracking too much data, processing too much information, answering to too many people, taking on too many tasks — all in the sense that this is the way they must live in order to keep up and stay in control. But it’s the magnets that have the control.”

A very popular reason people do not “go to church” is that they are – “TOO BUSY”

• The reason people do not spend time with their kids is that they are – “TOO BUSY"
• The reason people do not spend time with their spouse is that they are – “TOO BUSY”
• The reason people do not study the Bible is that they are – “TOO BUSY”
• The reason people do not visit the orphans or the widows is that they are – “TOO BUSY”
• The reason people do not obey God is that they are – “TOO BUSY”
• The reason people don’t set aside a day for God is that they are – “TOO BUSY”

But God gave us a Commandment (the Sabbath) He ordered us to rest; He commanded us to take a break; He allows us to relax and worship Him.

• “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Ex 20:8-11)

One more thing... We are commanded to remember the Sabbath DAY - not just two hours in the day. It doesn't say remember the sabbath hour and keep it holy.