The Importance of Rest

This may be a case of physician heal thyself, but the other night I became really convicted about the importance of having a day of rest. Usually when I think of rest and the Bible, myheart and mind go to Jesus admonition to “come to me you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest…” but this time I didn’t go there.

Instead, my heart was drawn to the Old Testament, to the law and the Ten Commandments. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. That really convicted me. Rest is not just a nice thing we get when we are tired, it’s required for holiness. In Old Testament law, Sabbath breakers were put to death. It’s as if God was saying “rest or I’ll kill you.”

Now you may think it’s a little off to say it that way, and you might be right. You may want to say to me we live under grace and not under the law and that is also correct, but yet I’m left with the question, why was it so important to God that we take a Sabbath of rest? Why such an extreme penalty for breaking this law? I think it comes down to three things. First if God rested after creation, what makes us think we can’t rest? Pride and arrogance? I think maybe, after all if we live like it all depends on us, do we really depend on Him. Secondly, God knows that if we do not take a break, if we spend all of our time pursuing anything (but Him) it will become an idol and push Him out. A Sabbath should give us a day when we can focus on Him and the blessings He has provided, His goodness and mercy. Thirdly, He loves us and He knows what our bodies can handle.

So today take a break, get some rest. Rest in the fact that it doesn’t all depend on you. You won’t be put to death if you don’t take a Sabbath now, we are under a new covenant, but take it from someone who had a heart attack at age forty. If you don’t rest, sooner or later your body will make you rest. As usual, it’s easier (or at least better) to do it God’s way.

For Those of Us Still Trying to Earn God’s Love

Come on, you know there are times where you do it, too. You keep trying to do one more thing for God as if He needs you. The good news is, He doesn’t. He wants you. He loves you and His desire is that you know Him and draw close to Him. Does that mean we shouldn’t desire to serve Him? No, but He wants us to serve Him with joy and love not pressure. He’s not a task master, He’s a loving Father and sometimes He just wants us to slow down and rest in His presence. Remember Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Too often I drive myself to distraction, trying to do one more thing “for Jesus.” Eventually it’s stops being about Jesus and starts to be about fulfilling some need in me to be important or something. Maybe you’ve been there too. Here’s what I’m trying to learn. I’m not important because of what I can do. That’s called pride. I’m important because God loves me and He showed my importance by giving His Son for me. (Needless to say it’s the same for you.) If we’re important it’s because we’re important to God. Do we have a mission? Yes! Should we serve God well and give Him our best? Absolutely! But don’t lose what’s really important, what He desires is a close, loving relationship with His children. When we try to earn His love, it paints an untrue picture of who He is and drives a wedge in the very relationship He gave Jesus to preserve.

Maybe it’s time you rested?

Lindsay McCaul is a new artist I had the pleasure of seeing on the Casting Crowns tour last week. When she played this song tears came to my eyes. It’scalled Come Rest. My tears left me know it was an invitation for me.

How about you?

Here are the lyrics
Busy, busy me, full of self-sufficiency
I have tried so fervently to earn Your love
But any joy that I once found is wearing off, is winding down
And I can hear You in the madness calling out

When You say come, rest -should I be working so hard
When You say love, rest -did You want hands or my heart
‘Cause I have done my best and still I miss the mark
But I remember You said its done
So I come

So convinced that it was right, adding weight to what was light
Seeking value in Your sight, but I was wrong
For all the labor I have done is but a candle to the sun
And I can see that it would never measure up

When You say come, rest -should I be working so hard
When You say love, rest -did You want hands or my heart
‘Cause I have done my best and still I miss the mark
But I remember You said its done
So I…

Come to the water’s edge
I rest in Your promises
That all You ever wanted was me here
And if there’s nothing left that I can do
To earn the love I need from You
Then all that’s left to want is to be near
So I come…when You say come…

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Hibernate

C’mon you know it’s true. There are days where you just wish you could unplug for a couple months and hibernate. The pressures of life mount and we get harried and stressed. Well we’re not wired to hibernate, but each of us needs rest and take it from someone who knows, if you don’t give your body enough rest, eventually your body will make you rest. It doesn’t all depend on us. We need to do what we can, do our best and trust God with the rest. Jesus said “Come to me you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” If you find yourself envying the bears, maybe it’s time to give your stress to Jesus and take a rest. He loves you!