Tag: rest

Rest

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“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (ESV)

I am so thankful that the one who designed the world created something call rest. He created the cycle of days and seasons as a natural pattern for work and rest. He created our bodies to follow this natural cycle as well. As I’m writing this on a Sunday afternoon I have just enjoyed a morning of worship with my family. I heard one person describe the weekly worship gathering as the closest taste of heaven that we get on earth. To go from an energizing morning of worship to a completely stress-free and relaxing Sunday afternoon is such a recharging experience.

Spiritually, when Jesus spoke these words recounted in the New Testament, the people he was speaking to were living in a religious system that was based completely upon their performance. They lived by a seemingly endless list of rules and demands that no one could hope to ever live up to. In the midst of this Jesus says to come to Him and He will give true rest. Rest from seeking to earn favor and acceptance based upon our performance. Freedom to receive God’s love and forgiveness.

Questions To Ponder:

How well are you resting in God’s unconditional love?

How often are you making space in your life for rest on a daily, weekly, monthly basis?

What is the biggest obstacle to finding rest in your life right now?

The Importance of Rest

As you may have noticed I’ve taken a few days off from posting to the blog. Many people take advantage of their income tax refund during this time of year to buy some much needed furniture for their home. With the uncertainties concerning the federal government (who went through a shutdown at the beginning part of the year), the timing of “tax season” varies, but once it starts it is fast and furious. It begins abruptly and just like that after a few weeks it is over. This year was a little more challenging as my team was a little short handed requiring me to work 20 days with 1 day off. Going that long without a break is physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually challenging. I don’t recommend it. In fact rest is an important life principle that cannot be overlooked.

The Bible teaches the principle of the Sabbath (Hebrew for “rest”). In fact, the very beginning pages of the Bible, Genesis chapter 1 describe how God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day He “rested.” Later, the entire Hebrew week would revolve around a work/rest cycle. Every seventh day would be dedicated to rest, no work would be done. I know maybe in our time and culture we look at that and say that’s a little skimpy-I mean, shouldn’t we have a five-day workweek, or four-day workweek? Think about it from the time period, however. The ancient peoples were agrarian in nature-completely dependent upon either raising crops or raising a herd. Life was hard. Living hand to mouth you didn’t really get a day off from survival. The idea of a sabbath, then, was a revolutionary principle in living by faith. The very God that designed us, also designed us to take time out to recharge spiritually and physically.

In our world of impending status alerts, updates, text messages, and the like, be sure to take time for rest. Take a day off. Use your vacation. Plan for it!