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January—Rest, Refreshing
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day, he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because, on it, he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” Genesis 2:1-3 (NIV)
God instituted the practice of rest from our work. This is evident in our focus verse. The writer of Genesis, thought to be Moses, went to great lengths to explain God’s reasons for choosing to rest after his work is done.
I once heard a sermon on why we need to rest. Simply put, we run out of steam. As human beings, we can only go so long without depleting ourselves of energy. Doctors sometimes give people with certain medical issues the orders for bed-rest. A friend has a daughter who is pregnant. The daughter had complications that caused her doctor to prescribe bed rest. A woman, also pregnant, at our church has been given the same medical orders.
When I received my first computer, I noticed one of the bloggers I read practiced a “cyber-Sabbath,” refraining from working on her computer on Sunday to spend time with her family. I try to follow her example. I recently read on another blog that we should take scheduled ‘blog breaks’ to keep fresh with our writing. By that, the blogger meant that, by doing this, writing stays something we enjoy doing not something we feel we have to do.
Clergy persons, receive encouragement to have a day off from their duties in order for them to regroup and refresh their minds and their bodies. Some choose a weekday as their day of rest and receive encouragement to abide by their choice whenever they can.
For further scriptural reading go to Exodus 20:8-11. Focus on verse 10. It explains the reason why we should have a regular time of rest in our lives.
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Happy New Year to each of you. My family had a nice Christmas. I look forward to completing some projects, writing and otherwise this year.
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Happy New Year to each of you. My family had a nice Christmas. I look forward to completing some projects, writing and otherwise this year.
Happy New year to you and your family Cecelia. Such a good post to start the New year with, we have lost the art of finding rest. In 2006 my first book came out in the USA: Sacred Sabbath. I believe now it was ahead of it's time :) We need God's principles for rest now more then ever.
ReplyDeleteMarja, Thank you for your thoughts. God is so good to us. Happy New Year to you and yours. As Hubby and I advance in age, I notice the need for less unplanned activity and to take things slowly. Rest is very important to us. I believe it is also important to God.
DeleteThank you for this new series of posts on REST...as you know that is my new ONE Word for 2017...and I am trying to learn to REST in the Lord daily. So far, I haven't done so well...had to take down all the Christmas decorations/tree today as we had company over the weekend to celebrate a late Christmas...and now I am pooped! But I am "working" on "resting"...a deeper kind of rest...with Jesus as my guide. Thank you for your input.
ReplyDeletePam: Thank you or stopping in. Give yourself some time. You could rest and relax over a cup of tea,while reading your Bible or devotional book. Just a thought.
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