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Rest is Hard Work

Posted on 24. Apr, 2010 by Karen True in food for thought

You’d think that a God-given license to rest would be enough of an excuse for us to take a break, but we even make rest into work. Ever return home from a “vacation” more exhausted than when you left?

Work honors God. And so does knowing when enough is enough. Our cycle of work, achieve and spend was never God’s intention. Work is His idea, but using it to define our lives and fill our pockets is our own design.

I built houses for myself and planted vineyards… I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces… I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me… Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecc. 2:4, 8, 9, 11)

When we use our work to serve ourselves, it loses significance. When work becomes who we are, we lose ourselves. And knowing that the ability to do work is a gift changes everything.

• Wealth comes from God. But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. (Deut. 8:18)
• Power comes from God. No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man.  But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. (Ps. 75:6-7)
• Knowledge comes from God. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise  and knowledge to the discerning. (Dan. 2:21)
• Talent comes from God. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. (Rom. 12:6)

We are creatures in need of purpose, so God gave us work. But we are also creatures in need of balance, so God gave us rest. Rest comes from depending on God to provide. Work is meant to serve God, and that’s about just one thing…

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (Jn. 6:28-29)

In God’s economy, His ultimate work brings us ultimate rest…

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest. (Heb. 4:9-11)

Related posts:

1. Parable in the Dirt
2. Rest is a Hot Topic
3. God’s Day Off
4. Bible Verses that Make Me Laugh

Tags: rest, Sabbath