I’ve just been away for vacation with my wife Stephanie, we enjoyed Victoria Day weekend, and summer is coming up so I’ve been trying to get rested. But I have to wonder if I really understand what it really means to take a break, catch up, relax, rejuvenate – rest!
Rest is a theme throughout the bible. God rests after creation, rest was part of the experience of the Promised Land, rest is one of the 10 Commandments, and rest is often a term used of people when they enter into God’s presence after death. The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible speaks of rest this way, “The completion of the redemption purchased by Christ at the cross will mean rest and freedom from all sin, and this in turn will mean rest and freedom from all sorrow, pain, suffering, persecution, frustration, injustice, and death (Rev 7:9–17; 21:1–7). The rest of mankind, moreover, will involve the rest of God’s whole creation as it is brought to the perfection of that glorious destiny for which it was intended from the very beginning (cf. Rom 8:19–25).”
Rest is both a gift from God, and a gift of Him. A weekly day of rest is a reminder of our trust in God to care for our needs, a reminder of the perfect rest promised to those who follow Jesus, and a way to revive our bodies and reconnect in deeper ways with God. Rest is not the same as inactivity. Though God rests, and invites us to enter His rest, He is always at work (Jn 5:17).
So I am trying to figure out how to rest… one Sabbath Day per week, and during vacation times throughout the year – especially summer. It’s a time where I can enjoy my family, I can read and play and do things that recharge me. But most importantly I need to be sure to spend more time with God doing activities (reading, praying, listening, dwelling, worship) that place my trust in God, that remind me of His greatness, and help me to live in His rest – even when my life seems chaotic.
I invite you to do that this summer as well… learn to truly rest in God our Father.