Time To Rest

TEXT: GENESIS 2:1-5

"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made" (Genesis 2:2)

When the Bible says God “rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made” (Genesis 2:2), it must not be construed in the human sense of someone resting from fatigue. This cannot be because “the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary” (Isaiah 40:28). We know also that He will not “slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).

The term “rested” simply means God ceased from His work on that day. That day assumed a special importance, hence the Bible says God “sanctified” the seventh day. He set it aside for rest, worship and service to the Lord.

If God did not rest on account of exhaustion from work, it follows that He modelled the seventh day as a Sabbath rest day for His people. It is a principle to enable us renew our spiritual, physical, mental and emotional faculties. If we violate it, we risk spiritual, physical, mental and emotional breakdown. It is, in a word, sin and a breach of God’s law.

Like His Father, our Lord, Jesus Christ clearly understood the role of rest and renewal of strength in human beings. In Mark 6:31, he encourages His disciples to “come apart... into a desert place to rest a while”.

In the dispensation of grace, the first day of the week is the Lord’s day; it is our Sabbath, which New Testament believers set aside for special worship. It is a day of rest when we stay away from work. It is a day for solemn worship of God. On that day, He renews our physical strength as well as teaches us precious Kingdom lessons in preparation for the second coming of Jesus Christ as required of those called out to serve.

God put it as part of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8 ) to emphasize its superlative importance and its inviolability. Consequently, we must observe the Lord’s day as the day of rest, even as we set time apart each day for rest, meditation and introspection.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: JUDGES 14 - 17

Higher Everyday for Youths - Link: http://highereveryday.dclmhq.org/

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "Keep the Lord’s day"

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Time to rest.