The first event on God's calendar.
Genesis 2:1-4 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in
them was completed.
2 On the seventh day God had
finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.
3 And God blessed the seventh day
and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his
work of creation.
4 This is the account of the
creation of the heavens and the earth. When the LORD God made the earth and
the heavens,
Deuteronomy 5:12 "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD
your God has commanded you.
In the beginning God created, day after day he didn't stop creating until his work was perfectly completed, then he rested. But don't get the idea that he was tired and needed to re-energize as a result of his labor, his rest was a result of the fact that creation was 100% perfectly finished. (Psalm 121:3-4)
Thankfully God is always
working and never gets tired, if he stopped sustaining his creation then everything would fall apart. When we spend time creating something we will eventually need to
spend time restoring our energy level but that's not true of God. I have to wonder if work was tiring for Adam and Eve before sin entered our world.
God introduces the idea of resting right after he completed the work of
creation but we don't have any evidence that God told man to rest one day
out of seven until after the exodus from Egypt.
Thank you Lord for the gift of rest. I need to realize that my work will never be perfectly complete as your work of creation was. I will be tempted to keep working but it will never be fulfilling. Help me to focus on you and your work in my life.
God knew that we would be dissatisfied with our work.
Contentment will always be a struggle for us, no matter how hard we try we will execute our plans and never produce the exact outcome that we were striving for. We can look back on our work and see the imperfections staring back at us and we will have to say that it is good enough.
God knew that we would use work for evil:
- We work to gain God's favor
- We work to gain favor with the people around us
- We work so that we can feel good about ourselves
God knew that we would need to change our focus.
Ezekiel 20:20 And keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the LORD your God.'
We need to turn our eyes upon God and put more effort into knowing and enjoying him instead of the achievements that our work gets us. God wants us to want him more than the blessings that we can gain from our daily grind.
I need to make sure that I keep my treasure in proper perspective, my time and abilities are from God so therefore everything I produce also comes from him. All of my flawed outcomes are made possible because God gave me the time and ability to make my treasure.
God wants me to rest from earthly labor and he also wants me to rest from my attempts to earn my salvation. The Sabbath helps me remember that I cannot produce holiness in myself, I will only be good enough when I put my faith in Jesus work instead of my own.
God gives us rest for today and for eternity.
Matthew 11:28-29 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
This is the one gift that nobody will return because everybody can use
some more of the gift of rest. When Jesus came into our world his
people were in a very desperate state of mind, the country had been
invaded for hundreds of years by various political leaders, some of them invaded the temple and stole anything valuable while others broke the temple rules, desecrated and defiled the place.
Even the religious leaders made the burden of the people even worse as the turned the Sabbath into a legalistic nightmare. The religious leaders sought to so narrowly define the rules of the Sabbath to the point that nobody could really enjoy the day. It got so bad that
every other day of the week was far more enjoyable and restful than the Sabbath.
Hebrews 4:1-2 God's promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. 2 For this good news-that God has prepared this rest-has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn't share the faith of those who listened to God.
God is still looking for people that will rest in him. People that will trust his love and care enough to have peace with him for this life and for eternity. I can look forward to eternal rest and enjoyment in God’s presence in the new place that he is preparing for me. (Isaiah 26:19, John 14:1-4, Revelation 14:13)
RELATED ARTICLES
Resting on the Sabbath and Unpacking Its Treasures
(firmisrael.org)
What Is the Sabbath in the Bible and Should Christians Observe It? (bibleproject.com)
How is Jesus our Sabbath Rest? (gotquestions.org)
