It was almost midnight. Soon it would be Saturday. Looking down at my drink I thought, “Big deal! In about 6 hours I need to be heading back to the job. There is no rest for the wicked!” At that thought I shook my head. One more and I better head to the house. 6:00 AM comes early. Downing the dregs of my drink, I held up my glass and Tommy the bartender brought the bottle. “Straight whiskey, good for what ails ya!” He said pouring me a double. I threw a ten on the bar and said, “Yeah, right! It doesn’t cure working seven 10’s.” He shrugged and took my money.
My crew had been working seven days a week, ten hours a day for over three weeks now and there were two more to go. Working a ‘shut down’ was like that. The big steel making plants of the Pennsylvania region would close down one of the blast furnaces and the local Ironworkers, Boilermakers and Carpenters had contracts to come in and overhaul and or repair whatever. We were erecting four new work platforms. The old ones had been built when the plant was new back in the early 1900’s. Ten hours a day cutting and welding. The work was dirty and hot, but the money was good. And, of course, money was what it was all about.
Leaving the bar around 12:30 I knew it would be a tricky drive home. The cops were out and about on Friday nights looking for guys like me. That was my main worry, as always. Not that I was getting behind the wheel after consuming close to a fifth of Canadian whiskey. I knew my ‘luck’ had been with me and one day again it would run out, but not tonight or this morning. As I drove, I thought how nice it would be to have a Saturday off. To kick back. To stay in bed until eight or nine. A day off! Man, I could sure use one of those.
I was raised out of my reverie by flashing lights a couple hundred yards ahead of me. Was it a roadblock checking for drunk drivers? If so, I was a dead duck. As I approached driving as carefully as possible, I saw it was an accident. I was relieved. Some poor sap had hit the curb and drove into a pole. A cop waved me around and I waved back like I was in total control. In truth I was shaking in my boots. Once past the scene all I could think was better that guy than me. I knew it was a mean thought. The guy could be dead, but I couldn’t afford another DWI. Saturday morning, drunk and driving, something like a prayer came into my mind, “thank you Lord and help who ever was in that accident.”
Where did that come from? I had no idea. And as I pulled into the motel parking lot, I felt a moment of unease. It was like I had forgotten something and just couldn’t remember. But as quickly as it had come it was gone. I had no time for this kind of stuff, I needed to hit the sack. It is a work day and there is money to be made. My luck was holding! I headed to my room.
I have thought of that Saturday morning more than once since I have surrendered my life to the Lord. Most of the times I think of it is on or right before the Sabbath begins. I remember the guy I was then. I guess I could be termed a God hater and a money worshipper. I strived to find jobs that worked 6 or 7 days a week. Yet on that Saturday morning, if only briefly, I believe I had a moment of clarity. I call them ‘Jesus interruptions’. If you have ever had one you know what I am talking about. It is like Jesus taps you on the shoulder or knocks you off your horse and says like He did with the apostle Paul, “…why are you persecuting me? Why are you fighting against my will?’ (Acts 26:14 NLT) I believe it that moment of relieve and also guilt, celebrating over someone’s misery, Jesus reached out to me and for a moment I responded.
Saturday’s have become very special to me. I have been convicted that it is and always has been the Lord’s Day. A time where He calls us to rest and to lay down our burdens. Since the creation of the world it has been so, “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” (Genesis 2:2) And He I think taps us on the shoulder to remind us in the fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping 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, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.” (Exodus 20: 8-10). On that Saturday long ago was He trying to remind me of more than my lack of love for others? I feel today He was, and I missed an opportunity to know HIS rest and HIS love, sadly for many more years to come.
But the wonder of our God, is that through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, He never gives up. As I look back, I know there were other time when Jesus sought to interrupt my life. Including meeting a Seventh Day Adventist bartender in Glendale, California. Even then it took years, but He called to her and reminded her of the Sabbath and with all blessings to me my wife Dianne responded. Until her death in 2014 she kept his day holy. For the rest of my life and into eternity I will do the same. Thank you, Lord.
I spent so many years wasting my Saturday’s earning an extra buck or two. These days I look forward to them with special glee. No money can replace the joy and rest He provides. I am blessed He reminds me of that Saturday morning often to show me the road I have been on and how far He has led me. This Sabbath I will lay down my burdens and thank Him again! Join me and find true rest and peace!
Happy Sabbath and Blessings,
John
1/18/19
