Rest Defined

Monday, October 16th
Rest Defined
By: Pastor Amie

Sabbath. When you hear this word what is the feeling you get inside?
Conviction or gratitude?

I confess, for years I’ve struggled with the fourth commandment. “Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy.” (Exodus 20) I could justify my lack of intentional rest by proclaiming the “Lord was always at work” (John 5v17) If I’m busy about the Lord’s work, then I’m not doing anything wrong, right? I mean I’m a pastor after all. I work on Sundays.

Oh, Amie.

In my disobedience I found my attitude slipping, my hands weak, and my heart hardened.
“Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2v2)
God created the Sabbath as a gift. A blessing we get to participate in. Not some mandate we must adhere to. This is for our good. God, Himself modeled the expectation.

“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 2v3)

On the Seventh Day, God rested. God looked at all He had made and declared it, “very good.” He rested from creating and moved within the creation and beside the created.

I often wonder if on the seventh day, God prepared a meal with Adam and Eve. Did they take an after-dinner stroll, eating coffee beans under a changing tree in the fall air while smiling at the beautiful way a deer runs? Did they stop along the way and marvel at the amazing way a flower blooms? Did God share pieces of His creative mind as He revealed to them why He decided a bee would have a queen?

This made me ask: Is resting on the sabbath more about a needing to be refreshed with God, than a requirement listed by God?

A few months ago, Tom and I began to observe every Friday or Saturday as The Sabbath. We learned when we pull back from the normal day to day, and rested within Creation and beside the Creator, we were full of the Fruit one should see in the life of a believer and our souls were refreshed. We get to participate in the Sabbath.