Psalm 146:5-10

In today’s world, you’ve surely heard people tell you how busy they are, especially this time of the year. The shopping, decorating, food preparation, social events, and family gatherings are enough to make anyone exhausted.

It turns out that people can actually do more work if they take time out to rest. Fredrick Taylor demonstrated this while working as a scientific-management engineer with Bethlehem Steel Company. He observed that laboring men were loading ~12 tons of pig iron per man each day on freight cars and they were exhausted by noon. He made a scientific study and determined that these men should actually be loading 47 tons per day! Under Frederick’s watchful eye and a stop watch, he instructed the workers when to pick up a ‘pig’ and walk and when to still down and rest. Sure enough, they worked ~26 minutes out of each hour and rested 34 minutes, but were able to accomplish four times as much work, all because they rested before they were tired.

As 2013 comes to a close, let us take time out to rest and refocus our efforts so that we can do more and be less exhausted. As Psalm 146 encourages us, let us make sure that our priorities are aligned with those of the kingdom of God. When we do things with God as our purpose, we will be filled with renewed energy and will be able to accomplish more. God will surely help us if only we let him.

Gregg Cothran