Have you ever heard of "karoshi"?

Have you ever heard of Mr. A? I only learned about him recently. His full name isn't known, but even the Japanese government heard and responded to his story with great consternation.

Mr. A had been working 110 hours at his job for a large Japanese company, week after week, almost constantly. That's over two and a half 40-hour weeks every single week!

One day, he was found lifeless at his office desk. At only 34 years old, he had died of a heart attack. Unfortunately, Mr. A is not an isolated case. In Japan, there's even a word for this: "karoshi." It translates as "death by overwork."

The Japanese labor monitoring authorities had no choice but to address the issue. It is now recognized that workers cannot work more than twelve hours a day for six to seven days a week for years on end without suffering physically and mentally.

To me, once again, this tragic situation raises the question, "Why didn't we know this before?" Or did we?

Didn't God speak about the balance of work and rest from the beginning of time, even in the very first few pages of His Word? "On the seventh day God had finished His work of creation, so He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when He rested from all His work of creation." (Genesis 2:2-3, NLT)

How incredibly clear He makes it! You may be thinking, "Yes, but that doesn't apply to me. It's different with me...!"

Because God knew that we humans would question everything, He repeated it so plainly that anyone with the desire to understand could:

"'You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the LORD…'" (Exodus 31:15, NLT).

Everything God does, He does out of love. What He says, He says out of love. So it's out of His endless love that He says, "'…I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back (change your way of thinking), turn back [in repentance]...!'" (Ezekiel 33:11, AMP)

Maybe this is the reminder you needed today to make a significant and necessary change in your life. I invite you to ask yourself honestly…could this be you? Remember…God loves YOU. His desire is to bring you life!!

You are a miracle!

Déborah