Six days you shall labour, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the ploughing season and harvest you must rest.

Exodus 34:21 (TNIV)

From what we’ve read so far, work seems pretty good – God is a worker and made us in his image to work, and find satisfaction in our work. Even though we are disobedient to God and have evil in and around us, making our work hard and stressful, God gives satisfaction and physical security as a gift.

However, there is another feature of work we need to know about – it’s part of God’s design. Work is meant to have limits, and we are to balance work with rest.

God himself took the first rest from work – in Genesis 2:2-4, God took a break after six days of work. We might not want to speculate on how tired God was, or how much he could have kept working if he wanted to (God can, of course, do what he wants when he wants). God also loves us and sets the right examples for us. The command to rest one day in seven then comes up consistently in scripture.

Even when there are pressing, time-sensitive jobs to do, God’s command to us to rest still holds true. In Exodus 34:21, we see that this applies in the critical seasons of ploughing and harvest, when the nation’s ability to grow food, eat and survive would be affected by how much work they could get done in a limited amount of time.

This day off was enshrined in law for Israel as the Sabbath – a useful catch-up time, and also a witness to other nations of God’s nature. In stressful times, this could be certain of being seen to have an impact. There might be a danger of famine, but God’s people showed trust in God by keeping the Sabbath.

God ordered Israel to do this as a united body, under penalty of death for anyone who failed to do so (Exodus 31:15). God was pretty serious about it. We may not be in the same circumstance today, either under threat of death under the law for disobedience, or in a nation witnessing in this way to the world, or even (some argue) needing to do it together on the same day, but we do need to remember and heed God’s reasons for the Sabbath –

• Work is not designed for us to do seven days a week
• We need to rest even when there are pressures to work
• Showing our trust in God to provide for us is a good witness to others
• God has told us to do it

 
To consider and pray throughout today

• Do I take enough rest?
• Have I kept a whole day this week free from work? If not, when can I do so?
• Could I plan my rest day to be the same as others’ in the church?
• How could taking a rest day with others be a good witness?
• What else is God asking me to do to limit my stress and balance my time?