And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. Genesis 2:3
When is the last time that you rested? I'm not asking if you have had a good night's sleep or a 20-minute power nap. I want to know the last time you truly rested from the stress and busyness of life and leaned on the Lord to sustain you. If you have not done this lately, it's time to set aside time to rest in the Lord. Scripture teaches that there is immense value in intentionally setting aside time each week to rest from the chaos of life, lean on the Lord, and depend on Him to provide for you during your time of rest.
God established the importance of rest from the very beginning of time, starting in Genesis 2. Genesis 1 records the creation of the world. In these verses we learn that God spoke the world into existence, including the sky, the water, plants, animals, and people. He looked at everything and declared it to be "good." He did all of this in 6 days. On the seventh day, we learn, God rested "from all His work of creation" (Genesis 2:3). It's not that He was tired, but He declared the day holy and set a precedent for taking time to rest for people to follow. He knew the importance of rest for us. Taking a day to rest gives us the opportunity to re-charge our bodies, souls, and minds. It also gives us a time to stop working and allow God to provide for our needs.
So, when is the last time that you truly rested? It's time to re-recapture this practice of resting. This means we do nothing related to work, and we do things that refresh our minds, bodies, and souls. When we do this, an amazing thing happens: we become better at the work we do the other six days of the week, and we discover just how much God provides for us on our day off of work. In other words, we become much less stressed out, much more refreshed and confident in God's faithfulness.
The only appropriate response to reading this Scripture today is to rest. Take three hours today to rest. Don't spend those hours on your phone or watching television. Instead, take time to do things that are life-giving for you and truly restful for your heart, mind, and soul. Then, in your plans for next week, pick a full day to practice resting. As you do this, your stress will decrease, you will have increased joy and energy, and you will watch the Lord provide for you during the time you take a break from your work.
Read Genesis 1:27-2:4 (NLT)
So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.
Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
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