When is the last time you took time to rest? Have you pushed your body and mind so far that you’ve reached the end? Most people today suffer from a lack of proper rest. They push their bodies non-stop until they collapse from exhaustion. Along the way they neglect what is essential, worshipping God. The Bible reminds us several times that we are to take time to rest.
Leviticus 23:3
Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there is to be a Sabbath of complete rest, a sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord wherever you live.
Created to Work
God created us to work. Before the first sin work was something that man enjoyed. After the fall work became a burden to man. From the beginning, God intended for us to work six days and then rest and worship on the seventh. Rest is an integral part of the renewal of the human body. When we establish a rhythm of working and then relaxing our body can keep up that pace over an extended period. If we neglect the principle of rest and go weeks without a day of off, our bodies will give out on us.
Complete Rest
That seventh day of the week was called a Sabbath. Most people believe that Sabbath means to rest, but it really means to cease or desist from work. The seventh day of the week is to be a complete rest, or ceasing, from all work. It is a day where believers are to gather together and worship and serve the creator. For the Jew, that means sundown on Friday night till sunset on Saturday night. The first century Christians started observing the Sabbath on Sunday because it separated them from the Jewish synagogue and they wanted to worship on the first day of the week, so they started the week with God.
Take Time to Worship
Don’t forget the importance of worship on the Sabbath. Leviticus tells us there is to be a sacred assembly, a time where come together and recognize God for who he is. We stop all of our labor and glorify the one who created us. While rest renews the body worship renews the mind and the heart. Don’t forsake going to church on your day of rest.
Set an Example
Work hard when it is time but worship when it is its proper time. God set up our lives in such a way that we work for six days, and we rest and worship on the seventh. This is the how we did it when he created the world so that he may provide an example. We will never go wrong following his example. Take time to rest.