A Good Break

A Good Break

September 25, 2017

Genesis 2:3  "The God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."

On the seventh day He rested. The story of creation is easy to remember. Sure, we may forget the exact order in which He created things during those six days, but everyone remembers He created everything during the course of six days and on the seventh day He rested. The seventh day, as we call the Sabbath, was the the first example we were told to follow. The Lord's first act as a Heavenly Father was to demonstrate rest. Not only did the Lord demonstrate rest, but He demonstrated a rhythm to the rest, an actual schedule. There is far more to that rest, though, than many people realize.

As the Lord decided to rest on the seventh day, it became set apart. Anything in the Bible referred to as set apart meant that it was Holy. The Bible specifically calls the seventh day, a day of rest, Holy. Recount the story again. The Lord created the sun, the earth, the animals, and mankind but none of them ever received the description of Holy. In fact, it wasn't an actual thing that was called Holy, it was the act of resting on a schedule, because the Lord rested, that was called Holy. If you re-read all the creation details, after every day of creating, the Lord reviewed His handiwork and called it, "good." The act of creating and the things that He created were good, but the act of rest became Holy. This demonstrates the importance the Lord wanted to place on a scheduled day of rest.

The Lord never told us to create, like He did, but the Lord told us to rest like He did. Ironically, we attempt to create every day, but seldom to we actually rest on schedule, maintaining complete holiness. We work, six days, and then some more, many times doing good works. Most of the time, the work that we do is Christ-centered, well intended and even on behalf of our fellow man, but the Lord says despite it goodness, it isn't Holy. Resting on the seventh day is Holy.

Just as we do acts of kindness for our fellow man, even on behalf of the Lord, we rest on schedule, even from those acts of kindness, to be Holy. We do good works, that is required, but the good works are not Holy, despite the righteous intentions. Resting on the Sabbath, however, that is Holy. The Lord set this up. He goes even further to make sure that the Sabbath is blessed. Not only was it emulated by the Lord, required of us, and Holy, but it is also Blessed. I'm not sure how you can bless a schedule of time, but the Lord declared it so. The Lord declared that our time of rest is blessed, as in it blesses not only Him but ourselves, when we take a scheduled rest from doing good works. So often we think of our good works as something to bless the Lord, but resting somehow from those good works, on a regular schedule is also blessed. The Lord knew of our propensity to burn ourselves out, even in doing good things. Many times we feel guilty, or even lazy, if we stop doing good works for a short while, but the Lord says it is actually blessed to schedule a break from good works. He even requires it. 

Don't take my word for it; look it up: Gen 1, Ex 20:11, Eph 2:10, Phil 2:13