The Rest Of Your LifeSample

Why should we rest?

Rest is Biblical. In the book of Exodus, God established rest as a command. Up there with “Do not kill”, it is built into the order of creation. Therefore, we know that our Father God takes it seriously! We read in Exodus 20 that rest is one of God’s priorities for us: 

“But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work… For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day.”

God designed us to need and take regular rest. He was specific about not working for one whole day a week and taking it as a holy or “holi”-day. But sadly, some of us just blatantly ignore Him. We keep going, doing and being. As a result, we get like a few of the seven dwarfs in Snow White: Grumpy, Dopey and Sneezy!

God commanded that we rest on the Sabbath. Then He blessed it. This means He gave it credence, imbued it with majesty and made it special. When we avoid having a Sabbath we miss out on that life-giving, healing blessing. We also need to remember that our rest connects us back to Him. It is true to say that rest is found IN God. As Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV) says:

“Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

When we rest, we reconnect with our Father and this makes us both strong and unshakeable. Rest isn’t just about a day off, but a day plugged in to God himself. In Matthew 11:28, we read Jesus’s words, “Come to me… I will give you rest.” In other words, Jesus is saying, “I am the source of rest. I AM rest. Come to me to get it.”

A decent and recent day of rest recharges you, makes you happy, healthy and helps your spirit function at its best.

• Where do you feel shaken and weak today? 
• What part of Psalm 62 speaks into that?

Pray: 

Father, I am sorry for times when I keep working instead of taking a holy day. Please show me how and where to build rest into my life this week. Amen