Rest

Genesis 2:1-3
In your job, are there some projects that seem like they'll never get finished. I have several of those that I'm working on right now. It seems like, no matter how much I put into them, they'll always be more to do. And it's not so bad because I like working on them. But there's the dilemma. Because I like these projects and because they require a lot of work, it's easy to get so wrapped up in them that I forget about everything else. Pretty soon, leaving work at 5:00 becomes 5:30, 6:00, or 6:30, and I get home later and later. Or maybe I start spending the evenings buried in my laptop or smart phone. Pretty soon, it becomes harder and harder to spend time with family on the weekend because I've got too many other things going on.

Does that sound familiar? Maybe for you, it's because you feel like you need to get ahead or impress your boss. Maybe your industry is one of those that has become a 24/7 industry. Whatever the reason, it's become harder and harder to keep work confined to "work" time.

Isn't it interesting that the first mention of work in the Bible is God resting from His work? Look at Genesis 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" (emphasis mine). God didn't need to rest. He has infinite power, infinite time, infinite ability to get stuff accomplished. He couldn't have been tired. So why rest? I believe God rested for three reasons.

First, He rested to show that work is temporary, that it has an end. Even God's creation work was finite. Sometimes we get caught up in the business and busy-ness of life that we forget how short our time on earth is. We forget the difference between temporary things and eternal things. God taking time to rest reminds us to keep our work here in perspective.

Second, God rested as an example for us. Remember we are created in His image. Just like God, we have the desire to create, the desire to work. It's how He made us. But unlike God, we do not have limitless endurance. God knew that we would need rest, a time to abstain from work, to catch our breath. There is a story about a traveler in Africa who engaged a local tribe to help him carry supplies on his journey. For several days, they woke early and traveled very fast for the locals knew the terrain very well. On the fourth day, the traveler awoke, eager to make more progress and complete his trip early. But he was confused and exasperated when his guides and companions refused to move. Frustrated, he asked what was going on. Through a translator, they explained that they needed to wait for their souls to catch up with their bodies. God knew that we would need time to pause, in the words of the story, to let our souls catch up with our bodies.

Third, and most importantly, God rested so that His creation would worship Him. Every day is a day of worship and everything we do should bring honor and praise to God. But sometimes, our schedules make extended times of worship difficult. Look at verse 3: "Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy" I think God rested on the seventh day because He calls us to take time away from work to honor Him and to worship Him without the distractions of work around us. We still need to work. But periodically, we need time to stop and do nothing but worship.

How does this apply to you? It's a call for balance. Don't let work creep into family time. Take a look at your priorities and make changes if you need to. Then let those priorities determine how you spend your time, rather than letting your time determine your priorities. And as you re-evaluate time, consider where you can add holy rest. I confess that I am speaking as much to myself as anyone else. But I am committing to you that I am taking a hard look at how I spend my time and I challenge you to do the same.