“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:11, ESV)
The scripture above should sound familiar. It is part of the fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” Today’s verse expounds on that command. You are to “rest on the seventh day”, the Sabbath Day. Sabbath and rest go together. God took one day to rest during creation. That day is memorialized on the Sabbath every week. If God took a rest, it’s not because the omnipotent God was tired or weak. So, why did God do it? For you! God knew you would need a rest. God knew how often you’d need to rest. God set aside one day a week for you to worship and be holy before the Almighty. You need it!
Rest is hard for some people to learn. It is something that many people count a failure. In these days of “always-on” electronics and being on call 24/7, people have found it difficult to simply rest. Max Lucado wrote about being unable to rest…. “When I was ten years old, my mother enrolled me in piano lessons.… Spending thirty minutes every afternoon tethered to a piano bench was a torture.…
Some of the music, though, I learned to enjoy. I hammered the staccatos. I belabored the crescendos.… But there was one instruction in the music I could never obey to my teacher’s satisfaction. The rest. The zigzagged command to do nothing. What sense does that make? Why sit at the piano and pause when you can pound?
“Because,” my teacher patiently explained, “music is always sweeter after a rest.”
It didn’t make sense to me at age ten. But now, a few decades later, the words ring with wisdom—divine wisdom.” (p. 282, Grace for the Moment)
Some people never fully understand or appreciate the divine wisdom of “holy rest”. Even when worshiping, their minds are going a mile-a-minute. When they should be contentedly listening for God’s “still-small voice” in prayer, they are filling the silence with words. How well do you handle rest?
Recently, I spoke with a Christian friend who was going through a difficult time in life. He was having marriage problems, troubles at work, and health issues. Things seemed to be coming at him from all directions. He went to his doctor for help and received one medicine to help him focus, another medicine to give him energy to handle the overwhelming challenges thrust upon him, and a third medicine to help him sleep at night. As he was relaying all this information, I grew disheartened. He was trusting the medicine to solve all his problems. I finally said to him, “When do you let your soul catch up with your body? When do you just sit down and be quiet with God? Do you let the stress go to God?” He looked at me like I was crazy. His way of dealing with challenges in life was to get extra medicine. My thought that he may need to let some things go and be quiet with God seemed utterly foreign and absurd to his way of thinking.
God knew you would need a day of holy rest. According to the scripture for today, everything and everyone in creation needs it! “The earth, the sea, and all that is in them” need to rest (Exodus 20:11). Medicines can sometimes take away your pain or bring you some amount of relaxation, but they can never initiate “holy rest”. They can never give you a total peace with being in God’s arms. This is something you must strive for and pursue. It is something you have to consciously work at to achieve. Holy rest is necessary for your life. Without it, things will go wrong.
I have met many, many people who thought other commandments were absolutely critical in life. We should not murder, steal, or commit adultery for example. I find it rather interesting that when people read the fourth commandment charging them to “holy rest”, they see this commandment as optional or less relevant. Why would God give us a commandment that was optional or irrelevant? Holy rest is crucial to a healthy faith life. It is necessary for creation. It is something for which the soul is starving. How often do you take a true holy rest?
Holy rest on a sabbath day is not made perfect by the absence of work or just being lazy. It involves taking time for God and letting go of the busy-ness of life. Holy rest implies God’s presence in the endeavor. People who don’t know God don’t know what its like to have a “holy rest”. They may sleep in or go on vacation, but they never experience holy rest. You may take a day off, do some “re-creation”, without ever knowing holy rest. Holy rest occurs when you set aside all your daily work and spend time with God and godly pursuits. It will usually involve prayer and praise and worship and a break from everyday life. Be honest, when was the last time you had holy rest? Is your soul tired and weary? How about some holy rest? Do you find life overwhelming? Begin some holy rest. Do you always have to be so hurried or harried? Take some holy rest.
Let go of your burdens for one day each week and rest in the arms of the Lord. Do it for your God, who made the heavens and earth.... and you!
Rest is hard for some people to learn. It is something that many people count a failure. In these days of “always-on” electronics and being on call 24/7, people have found it difficult to simply rest. Max Lucado wrote about being unable to rest…. “When I was ten years old, my mother enrolled me in piano lessons.… Spending thirty minutes every afternoon tethered to a piano bench was a torture.…
Some of the music, though, I learned to enjoy. I hammered the staccatos. I belabored the crescendos.… But there was one instruction in the music I could never obey to my teacher’s satisfaction. The rest. The zigzagged command to do nothing. What sense does that make? Why sit at the piano and pause when you can pound?
“Because,” my teacher patiently explained, “music is always sweeter after a rest.”
It didn’t make sense to me at age ten. But now, a few decades later, the words ring with wisdom—divine wisdom.” (p. 282, Grace for the Moment)
Some people never fully understand or appreciate the divine wisdom of “holy rest”. Even when worshiping, their minds are going a mile-a-minute. When they should be contentedly listening for God’s “still-small voice” in prayer, they are filling the silence with words. How well do you handle rest?
Recently, I spoke with a Christian friend who was going through a difficult time in life. He was having marriage problems, troubles at work, and health issues. Things seemed to be coming at him from all directions. He went to his doctor for help and received one medicine to help him focus, another medicine to give him energy to handle the overwhelming challenges thrust upon him, and a third medicine to help him sleep at night. As he was relaying all this information, I grew disheartened. He was trusting the medicine to solve all his problems. I finally said to him, “When do you let your soul catch up with your body? When do you just sit down and be quiet with God? Do you let the stress go to God?” He looked at me like I was crazy. His way of dealing with challenges in life was to get extra medicine. My thought that he may need to let some things go and be quiet with God seemed utterly foreign and absurd to his way of thinking.
God knew you would need a day of holy rest. According to the scripture for today, everything and everyone in creation needs it! “The earth, the sea, and all that is in them” need to rest (Exodus 20:11). Medicines can sometimes take away your pain or bring you some amount of relaxation, but they can never initiate “holy rest”. They can never give you a total peace with being in God’s arms. This is something you must strive for and pursue. It is something you have to consciously work at to achieve. Holy rest is necessary for your life. Without it, things will go wrong.
I have met many, many people who thought other commandments were absolutely critical in life. We should not murder, steal, or commit adultery for example. I find it rather interesting that when people read the fourth commandment charging them to “holy rest”, they see this commandment as optional or less relevant. Why would God give us a commandment that was optional or irrelevant? Holy rest is crucial to a healthy faith life. It is necessary for creation. It is something for which the soul is starving. How often do you take a true holy rest?
Holy rest on a sabbath day is not made perfect by the absence of work or just being lazy. It involves taking time for God and letting go of the busy-ness of life. Holy rest implies God’s presence in the endeavor. People who don’t know God don’t know what its like to have a “holy rest”. They may sleep in or go on vacation, but they never experience holy rest. You may take a day off, do some “re-creation”, without ever knowing holy rest. Holy rest occurs when you set aside all your daily work and spend time with God and godly pursuits. It will usually involve prayer and praise and worship and a break from everyday life. Be honest, when was the last time you had holy rest? Is your soul tired and weary? How about some holy rest? Do you find life overwhelming? Begin some holy rest. Do you always have to be so hurried or harried? Take some holy rest.
Let go of your burdens for one day each week and rest in the arms of the Lord. Do it for your God, who made the heavens and earth.... and you!