Rest

Happy Labor Day! If you are like many Americans, today is a day off of work and school. It’s a day you don’t have to go anywhere or do anything and are free to rest. The way we celebrate this holiday and its purpose got me thinking about what the Bible says about rest. 

We see at the beginning of the Bible that after God created the world, the Heavens, and the earth, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Genesis 2:3). Later, when God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments, one of these commands was to “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). This day was to be set aside as a Sabbath to God on which His people would not do any work. 

This goes against everything we hold to as Americans, but God’s design for us is not that we would be working machines, never taking a break. God wants us to live in a rhythm of work and rest. Of course, we should work and need to provide for ourselves and others. But it wouldn’t be the end of the world if you set aside a day every week to “take a breather.”

This is one of those practices that is much easier said than done. We live in a very busy culture that tells us that you’re falling behind if you’re not getting degrees, making money, or keeping up with everyone else’s hecticness. But we are not made to overexert ourselves in this manner. When we honor the Sabbath, we recognize that we are not God. We acknowledge our dependence upon Him in our actions. While we know that He neither slumbers nor sleeps, we recognize our humanity in that we must do these things – and that is okay.

A couple of possible misconceptions may need to be cleared up with this. First of all, rest doesn’t mean you have to be a couch potato. It just means taking a break from work. Maybe it means you play a game with your family, sit down and read a book, or take a walk in your town. Rest doesn’t make you unproductive, but it allows you to “recharge” to be more productive after rest.

Also, work is not bad! In fact, work is good. There is work that God has called us to do as Christians. However, we can’t work all the time. God didn’t design us to operate this way. If He set aside a day to rest after creation, why do we think we can’t do the same? Why do we think that our jobs are so important, our lives so busy, our hustle so hustling that we can’t take a day to simply enjoy the gifts God has given us? God took a day to rest from His work and marvel at His creation; may we follow this same pattern.