A Day of Rest

A Day of Rest

Objective
Background
Hypothesis
Materials
Procedure
Observations
Discussion
Conclusion
Disclaimer

Objective

To see if a day of rest is practical.

Background

"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... For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day..." -- Exodus 20:9-11

"Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." -- Colossians 2:16-17

This past term, I've tried a new thing, that's actually been around for centuries. It's called a day of rest. Each week, I set aside Sunday as a day when I simply won't study or do homework. It's pretty cool because then I really get to relax. I also stop thinking about school because I realize that I can't DO anything about it.

Then came the critical week... the week before my EECE 360 exam!!! Could I really take a day off? I decided to rest from 6pm Saturday to 6pm Sunday so that I could prepare for the Bible Study on Saturday night and be well rested for church.

Hypothesis

God will help me get a day of rest.

Materials

One week in April
Two final exams on Thursday
Two final exams on the following Tuesday, including EECE 360
800-page EECE 360 textbook
Motivation to get good grades
Parents who expect me to be studying hard

Procedure

Study hard before the "day of rest".
Clean up textbooks and notes at 6pm on Saturday.
Prepare Bible Study stuff.
Trust God to find some excuse not to study until 6pm Sunday.

Observations

I studied. I read about 360 pages. I figured out some tough problems.
My books were placed in a stack at 6pm.
I had a pleasant time reading the book of 2 Timothy in the Bible.
This is neat...

Saturday	April 21, 2001
22:00	I get a headache. Prepare to sleep.
Sunday	April 22, 2001
04:00	I wake up with a low fever. Take half a dose of Chinese medicine. Sleep.
08:00	I wake up with a higher fever. Skip church. Tylenol. Sleep. My mom says these fevers last days.
12:00	My fever is gone. Lunch.
13:00	My fever is high again. Sleep.
17:00	My fever is still high. Dinner. I was hoping things would work out well so that I would be well by 6pm and I could study again.
18:20	38.5 degrees. Tylenol. Sleep.
19:20	38.2 degrees. Chinese medicine. Study.
20:20	37.5 degrees! Study.
21:20	37.2 degrees! Study.
22:10	37.0 degrees!! Finished skimming the rest of the 800-page textbook!
After	My fever never came back. No one knows what caused the fever.

Discussion

I would not have been able to get a doctor's note for my exam because my fever left before doctors open their offices on Monday. I don't know of a more foolproof way of getting a day of rest. So you think it was the Chinese medicine that did it? Tylenol? STUDYING?

Conclusion

The hypothesis is true ...as far as I'm concerned.

Disclaimer

By its nature, this is not a replicable experiment. Yet its truth can be easily verified by my family members. Christians are not obliged to have a day of rest, it's just a habit I've picked up. Even so, many Christians in centuries past have had the practice of setting one day aside. Also, God may choose to act differently in different circumstances.