Rest – Chronicles of a Journeyman

Day 7: The Sabbath #28DayChallenge

Every seven days, we begin a “new” week. Our seven-day week usually includes 5 or 6 days of work and 1 or 2 days of rest. If you are unlucky, you have to work round the week and don’t have one day of the week set apart for rest. Hopefully, you are still able to make out time to rest regularly.

The Bible teaches the principle of rest and the pattern of “sevens” as a means to honor God and revitalize our lives. God created the earth in “6 days” and then rested on the seventh day, thus instituting the Sabbath as a day set apart for rest and worship. God’s command to the Jews was to strictly do no work on the Sabbath.

The Sabbath calls us to take a break from exerting ourselves and turn our attention to something which replenishes us. All kinds of work drain our physical and emotional energy. But reconnecting with our Creator and our loved ones replenishes our energy. That is what the Sabbath should be spent on – worship and nurturing relationships.

Furthermore, the Sabbath is symbolic of our dependence on God, as we acknowledge that our efforts are not all we need to accomplish our plans and desires. It achieves rest for our bodies and souls, but also turns our focus to our Creator as we seek to renew our relationship with Him and receive His guidance.

In reality, the Sabbath is a reminder of how we should live every day, taking regular breaks to renew our strength (such as night sleep or regular work breaks) and worshipping our God and Maker as we connect with Him through prayer and reading His Word. It is the pattern of life that guarantees maximum efficiency snd fulfillment of purpose.

Okay…I’ll stop here for today…and continue elsewhere tomorrow…have yourself a proper weekend rest!

Trusting Him in the Dark

Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.
Isaiah 50:10 NIV

Sometimes, the righteous walk in the dark. They deal with uncertainty, feeling their way around and wondering if God has abandoned them. People who revere God and obey His word do find themselves in such places, not because of sin or disobedience, but because we live in a fallen world. But God uses those times for our good.

Come to Me

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28 NIV

Jesus invitation in Matt. 11 rings loud today as it did on the first day it was spoken. It is an invitation to come away from a life of endless pursuits and burden bearing to a life of rest – of focus on the things that matter more on an eternal scale. It is an invitation to experience catharsis and learn a new way to approach life.

Rest (A Short Poem)

While older men are looking befuddled

Little boys are playing with puddles

The irony of humanity; ever under siege

From desires that put our wisdom to test

Sorrow grows with age and knowledge

As people fail in the struggle to find rest

Rest, my soul, in the eternal God alone.

Finding Rest

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matt. 11:28-29, NIV)

Life gets busy, super busy. Sometimes, it’s just one area of our life that causes a lot of stress. Other times, it is a combination of the many things we are involved in. Sooner or later, we all find ourselves in that place where it feels like we have more to do than we could ever handle in a lifetime. We just want to switch off and get away from it all – the demands of life and the expectations of people. Then there may be the guilt of having strayed from our relationship with God: we all struggle sometimes to keep it all together.