Rest As God Rests

Photo by Cassandra Hammer, from Unsplash. More photography can be found here: https://unsplash.com/photos/PwSRfJWqUqs

Can you feel it in your body, mind, and spirit when you are tired and in desperate need of rest? When do you need rest the most?

We all need rest. We often need rest before we realize just how tired we are.

God’s plan and design for us is regular patterns of rest built into the weekly routine of our lives. This pattern of rest is what God created and modeled at the beginning of creation. Our God is a God of rest.

In the very first few chapters of the Bible we see God’s rest. In Genesis chapter two, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:3, ESV).

God rested from the very beginning of creation and invites us into this blessed and holy day of rest. We rest because God himself rests.

As the author of the Book of Hebrews writes, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:9-10, ESV).

Life simply works better when we enter into God’s Sabbath rest. Our bodies, our minds, and our spirits long for and need the rest of God. We need God’s rest regularly—in weekly patterns of restful restoration and recreation.

May we enter into God's rest as we rest from our works as God rested from his.

In Christ alone, Robbie

A Collect For Sabbath Rest: “Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all your works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (Book Of Common Prayer, 2019).

Photo by Cassandra Hammer, from Unsplash. More photography can be found here: https://unsplash.com/photos/PwSRfJWqUqs