Today, I want to share an important truth with you. The only place you can find true rest is in God! It is that simple.
Last week, we discovered rest for our souls by attaching ourselves to Jesus.
This week, we are going to take that yoke He offers us and find specific ways to rest in HIM. It is a command we have forgotten. But it is a message we need to remember.
Genesis 2:2-3 says, “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.”
If rest is good enough for God, then don’t you think it should be good enough for us?
We act like we are too busy to rest. We think if we rest it means we are weak. However, rest is exactly what God commands us to do.
Got rested, shouldn’t we?
Look at Exodus 20:8, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”
And Deuteronomy 5:12; “Observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you.’
This is not some sage advice that you get to decide if you should do or not. This is part of the Ten Commandments. By not resting, we are being disobedient to God. God has work for us to do. Not just our 9 to 5 jobs, but kingdom work. We cannot do what God needs us to do if we are not willing to follow His commands. We have to stop, cease working, refresh and renew. We have to learn to rest in God.
Rest in the only One who can give us true rest.
Dr. Paul Burns writes in his book, The Sabbath Challenge; Learning to Rest in a World that Never Sleeps, “When I began to examine my own life, it became clear something essential was missing: rest. Not just worldly rest, which is a combination of crashing on the couch in front of the TV with a cell phone in my hands or escaping to the beach, but a rest created by God out of God’s very being and given to all creatures: Sabbath.”
So what is Sabbath and what does it mean to rest?
Dr. Burns goes on to say, “Sabbath has been retired as a relic of a seemingly more legalistic age. We live in an age of freedom, or so we think. Everybody has access to everything all the time, and we have the right to it all. But I wonder if we have given up one of the most precious gifts the Creator has endowed humanity with, something we desperately need. We are starving our souls of rest. We have been created in the image of a God who produces, yes, but who also rest.”
If we want to find rest for our souls, we have to start with Sabbath.
The definition of Sabbath is ‘a time of rest.” And we know from last week, the definition of rest is; “to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.”
The problem is we don’t relax. And if we don’t relax, we will not refresh and therefore we will never recover.
Sabbath is a way to honor God by resting. Because God knows we need it. We have to stop and rest in order to refresh and renew. Because God created us, He knows He had to command us to do it, or we never would. Sabbath should be as normal as laying down at night to sleep.
We need a Sabbath rest for our tired and weary souls. Not just once in a while, but on a regular basis. Every six days in fact, as God instructed. We need to honor God by resting in Him. God, in turn, blesses us for our obedience by multiplying our rest. We can do more with less. As we rest in God, God rests in us. And that rest goes further than any thing else. Isn’t that so God!
So what can you do to prepare for Sabbath?
First, plan your rest. Mark it on your calendar and observe it. Protect it even, making it a priority. Imagine what your Sabbath will look to you. What things would you rest from? Your phone, the TV, chores. What things would enjoy doing? Things that make your heart sing or give you peace and bring you joy. Not things that drain but things that renew and refresh your soul. Think about it.
Honor God by resting and watch what God does. I guarantee you, you will feel less stress, more refreshed than you have in years and stronger. God is so good. His ways are higher than our ways. We don’t have to understand it. All we have to do is rest in God. -M
Let us pray;
God of the Sabbath, thank you for instructing us to rest. Thank you for showing us your perfect way. Teach us how to rest in You, God. Help us to remember the Sabbath, not only because you commanded us to but because we need it. Show us how to keep it holy by resting in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
P.S. Leave a comment below and tell me how you plan to rest in God this week. Forward this message to a friend or share on Facebook and tag me in it.
2 thoughts on “Rest for your soul – Part 2”
Very good – Rest in the Lord and find peace.
Thank you Melissa for this blog today and the reminders that God calls us to REST. I love the reminder that we can do more with less when we rest in God.