RETIRMENT - LIFE’S SABBATH
FOCUS ON THE VERTICAL RELATIONSHIP
Frank E. Fain, PhD
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and
these things will be given to you as well” Matthew 6:33 NIV
According to the Bible the primary purpose of a Sabbath is for the individual to stop working in order to spend time worshiping God. If we view retirement as “Life’s Sabbath” then we can conclude that the first purpose of retirement is for us to spend more time on our vertical relationship with God.
Life’s Sabbath provides us time to clarify our personal relationship with God. According to Erik Erickson in the retirement years humans naturally become more interested in spiritual matters. Erickson’s view is confirmed by Charles Arn’s research on older adult evangelism. He discovered the year before, through the two years after retirement is a time in life when people are open to becoming a Christian or to making a major recommitment to Christ. At the beginning of retirement one should take time to reflect on their standing with God. If one is not secure in their salvation then they should contact their pastor for help in clarifying their relationship with God. If one knows they are a Christian, the retirement transition may be a good to time to recommit yourself to Christ’s Lordship in your life.
Life’s Sabbath secondly provides the opportunity to let go of our occupation and to fully embrace our true vocation. In the Bible a person’s occupation and vocation are not the same thing. A person’s occupation is what he or she does to earn a living to meet physical needs.
On the other hand a person’s vocation refers to God’s calling to the ministry of reconciliation. No matter what a Christian does for a living her/his vocation is to be God’s obedient child and Christ’s ambassador to the world. Life’s Sabbath gives the Christian the opportunity to fully claim their true identity and to work full-time as light and salt in the world.
Life’s Sabbath provides us the time for deeper study of the Bible, church history and Christian doctrines. Throughout my ministry I have known many retirees who set a goal the first year of their “Life Sabbath” to read the entire Bible. Most of them completed this goal and this simple commitment transformed these individuals and their relationship with God.
I have known other retirees who took college or seminary theological courses to gain more understanding of the Bible, Christian theology and church history. Many of these people had wanted to do these studies for years but could not because of their occupational responsibilities. Life’s Sabbath gave them the opportunity to get the answers to their faith questions and to continue to grow in the grace of God.
Life’s Sabbath finally gives a person the opportunity to follow God’s call into missions and ministry projects. Many retirees are growing in their faith by volunteering for mission projects. Some retirees serve in short term projects while other are becoming long-term volunteers in national and international missions. Many are finding being a mission volunteer to be their most rewarding experience of life.
As you enter retirement make sure you commit yourself to work on your relationship with God for this is the primary purpose of Life’s Sabbath.
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