Ah, it’s Sunday,
the traditional day of rest. We call it the Sabbath, which comes from the Hebrew term Shabbath, which actually means rest.
It started with
Genesis 2:2, where the Bible says God Himself rested on the seventh day after creating
the heavens and the earth.
Wow.
Did you
ever have a simple truth hit you like a sudden flash and almost knock you over?
That just happened
to me. Honestly, it did. OK, maybe I sort of knew this before, and it just
feels remarkably clearer today.
Jehovah
God, our mighty Maker and miraculously unfathomable Guardian of all, actually
took time to rest. So why wouldn’t we?
Like many, I come
from a long family line of hard-working (OK, driven) people, who tend to equate
industrious effort with virtue. It’s easy to fall into the pattern of measuring
personal worth by daily, annual, and lifetime achievements.
God does
not see things the same way.
Sure, He calls each
of us to use the gifts and talents He has given to us, both individually and
collectively. But He also calls us to rest.
It’s not like God’s
will won’t come to pass, if His beloved ones shut down for some shuteye, every
now and then.
Monday
will come soon enough.
But for a Sabbath
moment, our loving Lord offers us the sweet peace of rest that only He can
give. His arms are open.
And here’s
the promise for today:
Come to Me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest.
(Matthew 11:28, NIV)
Maybe Sunday’s not
your Sabbath this week. Perhaps you’re punching a clock or holding the fort, so
to speak, and you don’t have a day off till Tuesday or Wednesday. God wants to
bless you with restful moments. He will, if you look.
Dictionaries define
rest as cessation of labor, freedom from worries, inactivity,
periods of tranquility, refreshing quiet, repose, sleep, solitude, and
spiritual calm.
And if we rest in
His sweet presence, as today’s Bible promise (a quote from Jesus Himself) says,
we can soak up His refreshing love and power.
Rest is not
mindless idleness. It’s a productive activity – for a reasonable time. It’s not
sloth or laziness to take a break. Instead, it’s an investment in
industriousness.
Boom. And happy
Sabbath rest.
Image/s:
Scripture Graphic and
30 days of God’s Promises
Graphic
Created by this user
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