Entitled to Leisure

It's been a long day. I arose early so I could leave early for school. After the hour and a half commute, I spent the first couple of hours in sermon preparation. I then turned to some of my assigned reading for class, only to discover that this day's reading assignment was about four times the normal length. I was able to read quickly and finish on time. I attended my classes, the last of which ended around 5:30pm. I started the drive home in rush-hour Louisville traffic. So, my hour and a half commute was squeezed into over two hours. I was tired. On the way home, I found myself daydreaming about relaxing in the easy chair while the children played in the floor, being perfectly kind to one another and perfectly obedient to me and their mother. Of course, the baby's schedule would be such that I could kiss him when I got home, and he would be going down for a nice, quiet nap. Supper would be served shortly thereafter, and it would be a wonderfully peaceful evening.

It didn't take long for my desire for a restful evening after a long and tiring day to turn into frustration. Why? Because before I even got home, reality came crashing in on me. That is not how my evening was going to go. It would be a mad dash to get everyone fed and cleaned up for bed time. In the midst of it there would be screaming and crying, fighting and disobeying, all of which call for constant intervention and discipline. It was going to require a great amount of extra effort to create time for family worship in the mix. My dreams of leisure were disappearing before they ever had a chance to materialize.

It was then that the error of my ways came crashing in on me. I was wishfully thinking that because of my hard work and tired frame, I was entitled to some leisure time. After all, hadn't I earned it? Is it really so much to ask?

The truth is, "Love your neighbor as yourself" is not compatible with a sense of entitlement to leisure. "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" cannot be interpreted to mean that I am entitled to leisure. "Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" is not possible to obey if I am interested in pursuing the leisure to which I feel entitled. Indeed, the whole of the Christian life screams at us that we have given up our claim on leisure and traded it in for a heavy cross that leads us to a hill of dying to ourselves and to our own sense of entitlement.

It's not that moments of leisure are never a good thing. Indeed, at times they can be enjoyed as gifts from God. But when we begin to feel entitled, they cease to be gifts and can quickly become idols. You and I feel entitled to leisure, but Christ tells us that those around us are entitled to love. Let us deny ourselves and choose the better thing. We might actually find that the joy of living for love far exceeds the pleasure of living for leisure.