Slow down, relax, enjoy

Good morning, everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Slow down and savor the moment”

Our Bible verse for today: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Slow down, relax, enjoy”

I love summertime. I’m an outdoors person all year round, but that’s especially true in the summer. Summertime is also vacation-time. It’s an opportunity to unplug, relax, recuperate, and renew.

One of my favorite summertime memories, one that I come back to frequently, is of a time more than thirty-five years ago. It was July. The previous year had been especially busy and trying, but I was on vacation now. My family and I had traveled from our home in Southern California to my parent’s house in New Jersey for a family reunion. On the day I’m thinking about I was in their backyard (which was bordered by woods), lying in a hammock in the shade of a tree. There was a gentle breeze blowing, birds were singing, and I was reading a good book. Suddenly it dawned on me that I was as relaxed and stress-free as I could remember being in a long, long time. It seemed as if all the stress and all the tension had been drained out of me. I was serene, comfortable, and content. I remember thinking “This feels soooo good …” and I savored the moment – I sank into it and thoroughly enjoyed it – so much so that I clearly remember it now, more than three decades later.

I also love the idea of savoring special experiences. One definition of “savor” is: “To relish; delight in; enjoy; to appreciate fully.” But if we’re going to be able to savor the moment – especially our special moments – we will have to slow down and truly focus on the person before us, or enter deeply into the event we’re participating in, so that we can fully enjoy and delight in the moment. But how often do we do that? How often do we truly sink into and savor the moments of our lives like that?

The moment I described from my parent’s backyard thirty-five years ago involved a very simple event, lying in a hammock in a backyard – yet it turned into one of the special moments of my life. It’s one I try to recreate as often as possible.

Vacation times can provide lots of special moments like that, but every moment has the potential to be savored. We can choose to pay attention, appreciate, savor, and sink down into any moment. In Psalm 118:24 the Psalmist reminds us that every day is a gift from God and if properly handled, it can be embraced, enjoyed, and savored.

In our previous devotional series of the last two months, we focused on living long and living well. But what’s the point of living long if we are not living well? If we’re unhappy and not enjoying life, why would we want to extend it? But that should never be the case for God’s people. Every day of life is a gift and as the Psalmist says, we should learn to rejoice and be glad in it. We should savor it, sink down into it, and truly enjoy it.

Let’s learn to slow down and savor life. Let’s relax and enjoy it. If we don’t, we will miss the best moments in life.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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