2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Genesis 2:2 – 3, New International Version)
14 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:14 – 15, New International Version)
Theme: The Wisdom of Discipline
Title: Discipline and Downtime
Reflection:
New appliances and automobiles are typically sold with a manufacturer’s warranty. To preserve the warranty, there are prescribed operating and maintenance instructions. Especially if the items are expensive, people tend to pay attention to the manufacturer’s instructions. No one willingly tries to invalidate the manufacturer’s warranty by disobeying the instructions. Do we pay attention to our manufacturer’s instructions for us?
Our Scripture passage from Genesis points out that God established the Sabbath. “Shabbat” literally means “to cease” or “to rest” in Hebrew. The Scripture passage from Deuteronomy makes the clear link between the Sabbath and rest. The Sabbath is the topic of many theological debates. However, our focus here is limited to God’s prescription for rest.
So much of our identity is associated with all the things we do. We are a society always on the move. I will admit that rest for me was linked to laziness, but Scripture passages such as the two above, and the story of Martha complaining about Mary leaving Martha to do work by herself have taught me otherwise.
Conclusion:
Since God is our creator, the discipline of resting should be high on our priority list because God prescribes rest. What are we so busy doing that is preventing us from resting our bodies, minds, and souls? Where does rest as God prescribes it rank on your priority list? Does your ranking align with God’s prescription? I would love to hear from you.
Contributor: Bridget Jeffries
April 4, 2025 at 10:39 am
I am guilty. I know God wants me to, and I want to take better care of myself, but I definitely don’t. There are so many times I have told myself to take time for myself, and it just doesn’t happen. I usually have so much to do that I feel like relaxing would be wasting time. However, I should remind myself of these Bible verses, and know when to say, “Stop and rest.”
Mommy has reminded me so many times that the work will always be there whether I take care of myself or not.
Bridget ,thank you for the reading and for the questions forcing me to make more of an effort to take care of me, in alignment with God’s will.
April 4, 2025 at 12:29 pm
Like me, we would say we are busy doing important things. Dear I say, good things. I think we need to reshape our thought process. Rest isn’t good or bad. We should think of it in terms of doing the best thing. I plan to take a nap on Sunday after church just to put this into practice 😀
April 4, 2025 at 5:58 pm
I think although I wake up early on Sundays to attend worship service and sometimes much earlier than usual if I am duty to teach at toddlers Sunday School, I still feel I am most relaxed and feel recharged on Sundays. I consider the time I spent at church especially the moment I was sitting on the same specific pew when I’m at church, my precious TIME of resting with the Lord. The time I sing and praising God, listen to my pastor’s sermon, praying and fellowshipping with church family – these are all part of my rest day. When I get home after church, I take a nap or just enjoy my afternoon by simply relaxing. During the whole week , I’m busy with chores, volunteer work, part time job and working out at the gym, but I still find time to rest and I always find time to talk to God in my prayers wherever I am and whatever I do. To find time to rest is vital and should be intentional. We need to take care of ourselves because having a healthy body and disposition in life is one way of showing our gratitude to God for all the gifts he entrusted to us.