Exodus 20:8-11 Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
Rest is displayed throughout the word of God from the very beginning and therefore, the beginning of time. In his creation process, God set an example of rest for us.
Genesis 2:1-3 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
Obviously, God does not need rest. It’s not as if God is winded from creating. He hasn’t exhausted himself. He is a creator by nature; he loves to create. No, God is setting a precedent for the way we should live our lives in the way he designs this world he placed us in.
Notice that in verses 2 and 3 God rested only after in verse 1, he completed his work in creation. He fulfilled his obligation and goal, and then, enjoyed rest. You cannot expect to be rested if you procrastinate your responsibilities. Theses obligations will be on your mind, and they will end up requiring more energy and stress if you do them at the last minute. I’m a college student; I like to push the boundaries of deadlines. Trust me, it will drain you mentally and physically to always do things at the last minute. Be faithful to complete what work must be done, and then you can enter into and enjoy rest.
God purposely created a day of rest for us because he knows we need it. We are not capable of rejecting rest and still living at our full potential. We live in an achievement-based society. We think we need to feel exhausted to be successful. We take pride in working overtime. We constantly try to prove our worth through our work. But God did not create you to be a machine. Your performance can never earn his love or affection. If you could earn God’s love, what Jesus did on the cross is irrelevant. Every single person is desperately in need of a Savior. And you don’t just need to Christ to save your eternity…You need him to redeem your today. Jesus is not just your future savior; he needs to be involved in your life today and every day. If you try to live by your own strength, you will face a breaking point. God literally designed you with a need for rest and a dependence that can only be fulfilled by Him. No matter how much Scripture you memorize, how many conferences you attend, or how much money you donate, you can never be good enough to earn your way to God or escape the rest that you can exist without.
The Jewish people knew when the Sabbath day was, and they occasionally made it into a ritualistic practice to refrain from activity on the Sabbath. Once, the Pharisees tried to accuse Jesus of sinning for healing someone on the Sabbath. Rest shouldn’t feel like a chore.
Rest is loosening your grip of control over your life. Rest is about refraining from taking all of the pressures you face and placing it on yourself. Rest is about placing everything in the hands of God. For a day, for an hour, you enter rest by letting go of your desires and control to receive the refreshment of God’s presence and revel in his love. Let your mind, heart, and spirit find peace by encountering the prince of peace himself – Jesus.
Watch fear and doubt flee as you find yourself entranced by consumed with the love of Jesus. Rest is about letting yourself fade into the background and entering into a place of greater intimacy with the Lord. Rest is not just about you. It’s also about Jesus and remembering who he is.
When you remember who Jesus is, it should speak more to you about your identity and position in life than your situations do. Your identity cannot be earned, it was set the moment you invited Jesus in to become your savior and lord of all and received eternal love from your Heavenly Father. Your purpose was set when Jesus became your priority. Knowing Jesus is your greatest purpose in life. It is also the greatest adventure you could ever begin.
Don’t listen to fear or worry
John 14:1-4 Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.
We have been shown the way to find peace, to find freedom over anything in this world, and to find new life. You have a place of belonging. It’s in God’s love.
Don’t listen to the voice of pride.
Romans 3:23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
You can never attain the level of holiness God has or the level even required to enter his presence. But I have good news…God made a way to redeem and restore you back to him in spite of you mistakes and flawed nature.
Romans 3:24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
Knowing who God is and who we are is one of the first steps to properly observing the type of rest that God intended us for.
Be on the lookout for the next part of this blog soon!
<3 Brooke of Love
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