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Life is stressful. Some of it is in within our control, and some is just a part of life. Rest is a form of detox from stress.
We all need rest, each one of us and we need it often.The DICTIONARY defines rest as:
1. refreshing quiet
2. refreshing ease or inactivity after exertion or labor
3. relief or freedom, especially from anything that wearies, troubles, or disturbs
4. a period or interval of inactivity, solitude, or tranquillity
5. mental or spiritual calm
Rest is not a form of laziness; laziness is never working hard in an attempt to reach for your potential. Rest, is realizing a break is required to achieve and stay at our best. Dying from stress and sacrificing your family does not make you a hero or give us any significance. It may be the way our culture works, but we are called not to be of this world, so we need to stop trying to fit in. I present 3 reasons why we should make rest a part of our week.
Reason 1: God said so and he knows best.
The Sabbath is defined as “a day of rest” or “to cease to do”. Genesis 2:2-3 says “by the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
Leviticus 23:3 says ‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of Sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.”
In Exodus 20, we see the description of the 10 Commandments. On this list we are warned not to kill, steal or be filled with lust. Do you know we are also commanded to rest? We are! It is on the list and if it’s in that list we should take it just as serious as the other 9!
God knows what is best and He sets standards to protect us. God gives us commands for our benefit and protection, not to beat us down. But too often as adults we don’t like be told what to do. We think “I’m an adult, I can do what I want, and no one can tell me what to do”.
The day of rest is a reminder and that this life is not the end goal. We don’t live and work for just this life, we are reminded there is more to life than our work and busy schedule. God has given you and me a command to rest, not for his benefit but for ours.
The idea here is to carve out a 24 hour block of time each week. Some people can’t take Sunday’s off. The principal at play in that we need to have a day of rest. What day is up to you and what works best for you and your family.
There are two other reasons why we need rest: I will present them in my next post, in part 2!
