For many of us today, life is very, very busy. If we're at work, we might not know when to stop. We struggle with a work-life balance. Outside work we might face the demands of family life. Church sometimes doesn't help; there are always meetings to go to and jobs to do. The day seems too full and we feel we need to take a break, but we feel guilty.
The Bible is much more generous to us than we sometimes allow it to be. It doesn't load us with guilt for not being productive at every moment of the day. It teaches us that rest is good, and that building a proper rhythm of work and rest into our week is both good for our bodies and spirits and honouring to God.
So here are 10 Bible verses from the NIV about rest, drawing on Psalms, Proverbs and the Old Testament.
1. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work (Genesis 2:2).
2. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure (Psalm 16:9).
3. Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him (Psalm 62:1).
4. Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him (Psalm 62:5).
5. Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1).
6. Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you (Psalm 116:7).
7. The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble (Proverbs 19:23).
8. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).
9. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest" (Mark 6:31).
10. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence (1 John 3:19).
