The Pause That Refreshes

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. - Genesis 2:1-3

Here is a gift for you. It’s not a bottle of iced cold cola, although you are welcome to one. It is a day of rest. You need it; you deserve it; and you can’t honor God as you ought and go on week after week without one. It is a gift that you receive because you were made in His image (as was your wife, sister, and mother). It is a gift, which He tested first and passed on to you as good. It is the gift of Sabbath rest.

This gift predates calendars and names of days of the week. It predates Judaism and Christianity. It is a gift built into the very creation of the world. It assumes that a man will work for six days and is entitled to a seventh for rest.

Later, God would throw in some extra Sabbaths and even some Sabbath years for the children of Israel, but the principle is never negated or altered in any form. Even as Jesus argues against Sabbath legalism, He keeps it and fulfills its true meaning as rest and fulfillment in Him.

Jesus taught us that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath and that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath and still the principle remains. Men and women were not created to work 24/7.  We are called to a life of balance, which includes work, relaxation, celebration, and worship.