Recess Is Canceled

Proverbs 29:18 – “When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful."

Back when I was in elementary school, I remember sitting in class one day listening to the

teacher going over a lesson. We were fairly quiet that day, probably because it was after lunch and we were getting sleepy.

Just then a student came in and handed the teacher a note. She read the note and told us,

“Class I have to go to the office for just a few minutes. Stay here and behave yourselves. I’ll be right back.”

The class replied in unison, “Yes, Miss Johnson.”

As soon as she left the classroom and the door closed, it was like recess all over again. We

were shouting, laughing, running around the classroom chasing each other. Paper airplanes

were flying through the air as well as crayons and rubber bands. It was like we made the

classroom our playground because the teacher wasn’t there.

Then the unimaginable happened…Miss Johnson came back to the classroom. I had never

seen her so mad. She didn’t even have to say anything; the look on her face told us that recess was canceled for the rest of the week. While all the other kids would be outside having fun, we would be just sitting in class watching them, paying the price for having “recess” in the classroom.

If left “unrestrained” what would you be like? Would your words be helpful or harmful? Would your lifestyle be law abiding or law breaking? Would you be considered trustworthy or treacherous in your relationships?

Galatians 5:19-21 paints a clear picture of what life would be like if we lived “unrestrained”. We would be as wild as my elementary school class but at an “adult” level: quarreling, hostility, sexual immorality, lustful pleasures, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, drunkenness, and so on. Whenever God’s people got to this point, He directly sent or allowed “correction” to come. The time of peace and prosperity they enjoyed suddenly came to an end. Effectively “recess was canceled”.

We all have a flawed human nature. The Bible refers to it as a “sin nature” or “the flesh”. It is the nature that separates us from God’s divine nature – one that is holy, pure, righteous and full of truth. Without the guidance of the Word and the Helper, we cannot communicate, relate to, or have fellowship with God. We would quickly fall back to behavior that would be destructive to ourselves and others.

This Proverb tells us that when we obey the laws, commands and principles of godly living, we experience joy in our lives. And when there is fellowship with Him, we experience other benefits such as peace, love, goodness and self control, even in the midst of a crisis.

Are you behaving in a way that will “cancel recess”? Are your thought patterns ones which will “get you in trouble with the Teacher”? Are the priorities of your life ones that will advance you in the Kingdom, or “set you back a grade level”?

Walk in a way that is pleasing to the Teacher, and enjoy the “recess” He graciously provides.