You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest (Exodus 43:21 NIV).

Hard work is good, but it must be balanced with rest. Numerous times in the Old Testament, God commands His people to rest (Exodus 20:8-11, 23:12). Exodus 35:2 even prescribes death to the one who breaks this commandment. In the New Testament, we're familiar with Jesus' giving rest to our souls (Matthew 11:28-29), but we sometimes forget that Jesus practiced physical rest and encouraged it in His disciples. In Mark 6:31-32, Jesus took His disciples on a "retreat" for some rest.

Often in American life rest is seen as weakness. We hurry from one thing to another; we fill our time with plenty of activity; even our standard two weeks of vacation each year give us little reprieve from the busyness of life. How many vacations have you gone on where you felt just as tired at the end of it as at the beginning?

Even in the church we see this. Often those who are most eager to serve the Lord and others are recruited to do so much that they never take time to rest. We often justify it by telling ourselves and God how much Kingdom work is being done. We say, "God understands. He knows the work that needs to be done."

I felt this during Kingdom Building Ministries' move to its new building a few years ago. I felt justified in working day-in and day-out because it was "a busy season of life." But then God took me to Exodus 34:21 which repeats the commandment to rest, but gives some specifcs: "even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest." It's as if God says, "I know there are busy seasons of life; I knew that when I made the commandment. For your own good, the commandment still holds."

This can be very difficult when we are under pressure or faced with a deadline, but rest can become an issue of faith. Is the Lord able to make our six days of work more productive than seven days? Yes! But in American society we rarely act as if it's true. God instituted this weekly rest for our physical, mental and spiritual health.

A few months ago, I visited a Greek Orthodox church. I gained an interest in Greek Orthodoxy from some of the writings of the ancient fathers and wanted to experience that style of worship.

A Greek Orthodox priest told me that "if there is a longer way to say something, the Orthodox will find it." The service is quite long with little variation--very counter-cultural to the constant barrage of stimuli we are accustomed to. Why are these Greek Orthodox services done this way? One priest put it to me this way: In America, it often takes several hours for the mind to fully drop the cares of the day. True, all-encompassing worship cannot happen until we have forgotten completely about ourselves, our cares and our worries and focus entirely upon Him.

-David Drees

There is great wisdom in allowing our minds to rest to prepare to meet with Jesus in our worship. There is great wisdom in allowing our bodies to rest to prepare to meet with Jesus in our service.

© 2003. Kingdom Building Ministries.