God’s Seventh Day
What is the Sabbath and truly what is rest? One of the first things we learn in the Bible is about how God created our beautiful planet. After working so hard, he rested on the 7th day (Genesis 2:2). Due to being made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), it makes sense as to why resting on the 7th day was included in the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:8). God designed us and he knows how we can live our life with the strongest relationship to him as possible. Pretty straight forward right? For six days I work hard and on the seventh day do nothing.
It Mean’s we Just Take a Nap, Right?
The New Testament did not erase this commandment. However, Colossians 2:16-17 tells us that others shouldn’t condemn us for not celebrating the Sabbaths. Verse 17 tells us that the list in verse 16is followed by it saying in verse 16 were only shadows of the real thing, Christ himself. Now that we have Christ in our lives, it is more than just being lazy one day a week. It is having peace in our lives by submitting ourselves and our days to the will of the Holy Spirit.
Without God’s Rest, You will Never feel Content
See without pursuing this relationship, you will always feel incomplete and yearning for that peace. On top of that you will never be able to reach it. When we have this peace through the Holy Spirit, we are told in Philippians 4:7 that God’s peace will guard our hearts and our minds in Jesus Christ. When we stop trying to bring our own under control, God’s peace will allow us to enter into God’s rest.
God’s Rest
However, this doesn’t mean that it is not important to have a day of rest. What it means is that there’s not a cookie cutter version of what a day of rest should be. Yes we need to rest but in a different way that western culture would have us think. The Hebrew word for rest used in Genesis 2:2 is shabat, or “to cease or stop.” There is no way for us to truly mimic what God did that seventh day. However, we do know that God is perfect and therefore free from destruction and stresses caused by our fallen world. This is what entering God’s rest is. When we drop the burden of our work and focus on loving God we can enter into God’s rest. This rest is a release from our fallen world of sin and rebellion. Likewise, it allows us to sit in his perfection.
A writer named Uche Ikpa wrote an article with a conclusion so beautifully said that I feel compelled to end this article with her words:
When We Possess God's Rest: It eases the pain we bear daily because we enter into God's rest It refreshes and relaxes our minds and bodies We are able to lay down in peace, instead of torn by inner struggles We are able to operate our lives in peace and achieve our vision and goals Our minds are calm and restful, not rattled by anything because We have God's rest We have God's peace Rev. Uche Ikpa
Let’s Pray.
Father God,
You’ve given us so many blessings in this modern world we live in. However, this high paced life makes it easy to lose sight of your will and peace. We’re not asking for material things here Lord. Only for the one thing that nothing on Earth can buy-rest in You. Please guide our hearts and spirits to be aimed toward you in everything we do and help us share your peace with everyone around us.
In your love we pray.
Amen.
