Fully Devoted: CreationSample

God Created Rest

So far, we’ve looked at Genesis 1 and 2 to help us understand some of the biggest questions in life: Who is God? What does it mean to be human? Why do relationships matter? What is our purpose? 

Today, we’re going to learn a powerful lesson from the last day of creation. It was on the seventh day of creation that God rested. 

You might be asking yourself this question: “If God’s so powerful, why did He need to rest?” 

There are two main reasons for that:

 1. God rested to enjoy a relationship with His creation. 

Imagine you have a Lego set that you’re really excited to play with, but in the process of building and putting it together, you keep feeling like there’s still more work to be done. So you keep working until it’s perfect.

Except you’re never able to actually get it just right, so you continue working on it endlessly. If that were to happen, you would never truly be able to enjoy the thing you created. 

God rested on the seventh day so that instead of working on His creation He could simply enjoy a relationship with His creation. It would be really difficult to build meaningful relationships if we just went around trying to work on other people. It’s only when we take a step back from working and rest that we can enjoy the work we have done.

2. God rested to set an example for His creation. 

Have you ever met someone who worked so hard and fast through life for so long that they crashed? Or maybe someone seems to be busy all the time, and now they’re completely overwhelmed and stressed out—to the point where it seems like they’ve forgotten how to have fun.

That’s exactly the opposite of what God wants for us. He might not have needed to rest in order to refresh Himself, but we absolutely do. As human beings, we’re limited and finite creatures. 

It’s easy to wear ourselves down if we don’t find time to rest. And in the same way that God rested from working to enjoy His creation, we are also to rest from working to enjoy our Creator. 

This is where the Jewish practice of Sabbath comes from. Once a week, Jewish people would refrain from work, and instead, enjoy time with friends and family, and create space to connect with God. The practice of Sabbath is a weekly reminder that your value doesn’t come from what you do, but from the God who made you. 

Journaling Questions 

• Write a verse from today’s reading in your journal. What are some misconceptions about rest that you have held?
• What might it look like to follow God’s example and create space to enjoy your relationship with Him and others this week?
• What would change in your life if you operated from a place of joyful rest instead of constant stress?

Memory Verse

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 NIV