Work is important and it honors God, but so do our days off and time given to rest. Jesus invites us not only to participate in His work, but also to participate in rest that comes through knowing and experiencing Him more and more.
In Matthew 11:28, Jesus tells us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Rest is a wondrous gift that comes from God, but sadly not many people make the most of opportunities to rest. There are even others that refuse to rest thinking that it is an unnecessary burden that slows down productivity and success.
But God's Word teaches us otherwise. It is when we are at rest that many times God begins His work. Often when we participate in God's work, we can actually ruin things for both God and ourselves. The wonderful news is however that we can always rely on God's grace to make things work together for our good as we allow God to work as He gives us rest.
The wisdom behind taking days off goes beyond just the rest and recreation of the body. When God calls us to rest, He calls us to rest not just our bodies but even our souls. And the thing about rest for the soul is that we cannot gain this rest apart from the presence of God. Just as Psalm 62:1-2 "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."
Often, no matter how many days off we take, we can sometimes still feel tired and anxious when Monday comes around. That's because while our body is rested, our soul is not. We must seek not only to rest our bodies, but every thread of our being. Our minds, spirit, heart and will all need rest as well, and this rest comes only through laying our burdens down at the feet of Jesus. Just as He has said in Matthew 11:29-30, " Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
True rest comes not on a specific day of the week, though it's important to have set dates to rest, but unless we use those specific dates to take time to enter into the presence of God, then we will not find true rest. But the wonderful news is that because of what Jesus has done for us, we don't need to wait for a specific day to come into His presence. We can now enter God's presence at any time through our faith in Christ and then experience God's rest and restoration.
