An attribute I enjoy about God’s character that I wasn’t too focused on before is His resting nature. One of the main reasons why I choose to follow God is because He leads by example. God is not encouraging me to lead a life that He hasn’t himself led.
A couple of weeks ago, I felt I reached the end of myself. I was lacking in energy to do the work and tasks set out before me. I was constantly striving to achieve and produce results and when my goals were met, I still felt like I was missing something. No matter how good things looked on the surface, I was exhausted. God led me to implement a rest day in my weekly schedule and during my first rest day, He gave me strategies on how to tackle all that I had on my plate for my work week. It was life-changing for me to learn this lesson and understand God’s resting nature. God doesn’t want us to reach the end of ourselves or to relentlessly strive. God wants us to operate from a place of rest.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So 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 2:1-3
As soon as God was done with all of creation, He rested. Thus creating The Sabbath. God valued this day so much that He made the observance of it be one of the Ten Commandments under The Mosaic Law.
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work.”
Deuteronomy 5:12-14
The legalistic perspective still thinks we have to follow this day of Sabbath as it was required in biblical times. We do not. Keeping this day was a covenant sign between Israel and God. Keeping The Sabbath is not an obligation for us because we are no longer tied to The Mosaic Law under the New Covenant as followers of Christ. God does not expect us to live under Israel’s laws in His New Covenant.
And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.
Luke 14:5-6
Jesus came to fulfill and free us from the law (Romans 8:2-4, Matthew 5:17). Keeping The Sabbath is no longer a law we have to follow but what we’re invited to enjoy and partake in out of choice. With that said, what did this day look like for God’s people in the Old Testament?
In Exodus 20:8-11, Moses details that the seventh day was a gift and a rest from God. For the nation of Israel, they were required to not do any labor on this day or sell anything (Nehemiah 13:15-22) in order to remember how God had rested on the seventh day after creation; they were required – with special commands – to organize consecrated feasts (Leviticus 23:3); they were required to make special sacrifices (Numbers 28:9); they were required to give offerings (Leviticus 3:33-44, Leviticus 2). From my understanding of this day, the following was required:
> No labor could be done <
> Sacrifices were made – something was given up <
> Offerings were made – generosity/giving was highlighted <
> Focus had to be on God and His work <
By focusing on the principles of this holy day commanded to the nation of Israel, we discover that the purpose of it wasn’t for them to have a day of the week where they did nothing. Though some things were prohibited, the day commanded them to anchor themselves towards God in their thoughts and actions as well as their worship and reverence.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23
When we rest from our daily activities and look to Him, we move effectively because God is the source of everything good. Only in Him and through Him can we reap the fruits of the Spirit in our lives including in our work, our relationships, and our personal development. How often do we go into our work weeks or daily tasks dreading them? My rest day kicks off my week with such productivity that the work I now do during the week has greatly improved! It’s been magical to say the least. I have this extra ‘pep in my step’ when I come out of my rest day. I’m so thankful to God for leading me to instill this in my routine. When I recognize that all I need to do is to lean on Him first, I acknowledge that He’s the only one who can and will see me through. We can be so quick to assume that we can do anything outside of God’s strength, but the ultimate work – on our behalf – was done on the cross. No amount of striving or work humanity does can ever compare to what Jesus did on that day. By resting in God, I operate off of His strength, His love, His grace, His mercy, His power, His work. By resting in God, I renew my mind, body, and soul in praise, worship, prayer, and study. Simply being in His presence and honoring Him has liberated me and the way I approach my week.
Out of God’s mercy, He freed us from The Sabbath though this doesn’t change the fact that this holy day was still one of God’s Ten Commandments. A day honoring God and resting in Him is essential for our lives. So, how exactly do we go about creating such a time for ourselves?
“One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”
Romans 14:5-6
New Testament scripture encourages us to know that the structure of our day of rest honoring God is ours to choose. Do not let others discourage you from how you choose to spend it with God. It can be any day, time, or period of the week you choose for it to be as long as it honors God. My recommendation is that you pray and ask God to help you with this.
Do you not have a full day? Devote a couple of hours of rest
Are you married and not single? Include your spouse
Are you a parent and not childless? Find ways to incorporate your kids
There are many ways you can structure your rest period honoring God. For me, I needed my time spent at the gym to be altered so God revealed that my rest day honoring Him couldn’t include going to the gym. For someone else, they may not yet have a church body or a Godly community so their rest day may include hours of individual bible study and prayer time or listening to sermons. For someone else, they may enjoy cleaning so their rest day may include cleaning the house and communicating with God or praying during their cleaning sessions. For someone else, they may choose a part of God’s word that they want to focus on and honor for a specific moment. Whatever activity or action you take during your rest period with God, include Him in it and watch how it transforms you.
Other rest day ideas:
- Fasting
- Volunteering
- Listening to praise and worship songs
- Staycation studying God’s word
- Bible study with friends or family
- Organized prayer time
Sincerely,
Anne
P.S. Have you incorporated a rest day in your schedule? If yes, what does yours look like? Comment below!
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Scripture to meditate on this week:
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
2 corinthians 12:9
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
Deuteronomy 5:12-15
“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:2-4
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.”
Colossians 2:16
“Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God”
2 Corinthians 3:4-5
“And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”
Hebrews 3:18-19
Daughter in Waiting Ministry 
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