Idle hands are the Devil's tools, yet God rested on the 7th day. Rest and idleness are very close cousins and it can be difficult to figure out which is which. While rest leads to rejuvenation, idleness leads to a near occasion of sin. Which is which and how do we make sure we're resting and not simply idling?

Has there ever been a time when you watched a lot of TV after a hard work week, only to realize at the end that you'd accomplished nothing? Certainly your hard work merited a break, but not a break that turned into wasted time. Rest is recovery from good work while idleness is laziness. Rest is sitting down to watch a movie with no technology at hand to distract you. Idleness is mindlessly surfing the Internet. While rest promotes health, idleness is most often a near occasion of sin.

Give yourself the rest that you're due. Your body, mind, and spirit need the downtime to rebuild energy. Your mind needs a break to restore its creative powers. Be careful, though. Never take more rest that you've earned. Never let a good thing like rest turn into something negative like idleness.

Tags: Productivity