The Rule Of Rest
Are you a rule follower? How much work is it for you to keep all the rules? Do you find some of the rules to be restful and life giving?
God’s rules—his commandments for our lives are to be life giving, are to provide protection, security, provision, and rest for his people.
God’s rules are to be liberating, replenishing, preserving, and restorative for his children.
This is why in the fourth commandment God tells us to “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” (Exodus 20:8-10, ESV).
We are made for rest. We are not made to be “human doings”, we are human beings.
We cannot function long-term without the restorative benefits of rest. We need to recharge and to replenish our reserves so that we can live and work another day.
Everyone needs rest. This is why God explained that on the Sabbath day, the day of rest, everyone should rest—no one is exempt from God’s rest. Rest is that important.
God said, “On [The Sabbath] you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.” (Exodus 20:10, ESV).
God wants everyone to rest, even servants and animals. We all need to cease from our labors and our creativity in regular rhythms of work and rest, because this is what our God of rest did after he created everything.
“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:11, ESV).
God rested after his creative creation of all things. God made everything that is, and then God rested from all labor.
God blessed this rest. God blessed the Sabbath day of rest and then God made it holy. When we rest, we are not only obedient to God, but we are participants in this blessing and in this holy rest of God.
May we remember to observe God’s good rule of rest in our lives and may we find ourselves renewed as we participate in this blessed holiness of God’s restorative rest.
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 Tara Raye, from Unsplash. More photography can be found here: https://unsplash.com/photos/fiWshslUTFw
