Sabbath Rest

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Genesis 2:1-3 says that God rested from the work of creation on the seventh day and he blessed it and thereby created our week.  When we get to the giving of the Law, we find the seventh day to be called a day of rest still.  In the modern world we still observe the Sabbath or Sunday and call it a day to be hallowed.  It is the day we worship, and it is the day we rest. Even for people who work on Sunday it is still a special day:  It marks the beginning or ending of a week.  Jews and some Christian denominations observe the seventh day.  Many others observe Sunday as the Lord's Day commemorating the day Jesus rose from the dead.


One of the blessings of the seventh day observance is that people need to rest.  The cycles of time give our lives times and seasons.  Rest doesn't mean we should sit and stare at the wall, but it is a time to assess where we are and get a new grip on life so we can go out again.  To worship on the day of rest is the same kind of renewal, and it allows us to see ourselves and our lives in a refreshed light; as we worship, God allows us to see ourselves as he see us.  We have the opportunity to change, repent, press on, or take up a new challenge.


I remember times when my husband's job required him to work without the day of rest.  I saw him become stressed and angry when the times to rest and worship were abandoned.  God calls us to rest and worship.