“Rest On The Day Of Rest!”

“Rest On The Day Of Rest!”
“…By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done”(Gen.2:1-3).
The above verses of the “Book of Beginnings” – Genesis is the origin of the Sabbath day. To say God rested on the seventh day is “anthropomorphism”; that is the attribution of human characteristics to God…” God cannot rest in the same way we rest as if he was weary after six days of creating. God rested because nothing formless or empty remained. God’s creative work was completed – and was totally effective and absolutely perfect. All that he made was very good (Gen.1:31), and was not in need of being repeated, repaired or revised.
God blessed the day and made it holy because on it he rested.
It is only in relation to the gathering of manna that the Sabbath became an obligatory day of rest. God did not provide manna upon the seventh day because it was a holy Sabbath to the Lord. “Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out. So the people rested on the seventh day”‘(Ex.16:23-29).
This seventh day became a Sabbath day to the Lord and to be kept holy (Ex,20:8). This day of rest as a commandnent is a “liberation or freedom day as on this day servants and beasts of burden had compulsory rest. A rare privilege which they couldn’t easily have otherwise.
*Rest is necessary for a healthy and purposeful life. My teacher of Pastoralia, the Very Rev Dr Asana Festus emphasised to us the need for rest. He cautioned us to guard against “burn-out!” There’s a lot of stress generated from the work place. The too much aggressive behavioural attitudes overflooding the place are in part the outcomes of over work without commensurate adequate rest. Nobody can do it all! While it is important to work, it is also essential to have time to rest. *”All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy;” although “all play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.”* There is need for a balance between the two. However, be reminded that rest comes only after work. Busybodies do not deserve rest since rest has become their work.
My friend, if the day of rest has been blessed by God and is a holy day unto him, then resting on the day of rest becomes a holy activity. How do you spend the holy day of rest? Are the things you do on the day of God’s rest holy as the day is holy? Do you allow that sense of liberation to be experienced by the servants?
Prayer of the week: Holy Spirit guide me to use God’s holy day of rest purposefully. Amen!
Welcome back to a new working week! Have a blessed day and week! Peace be with you!
Babila Fochang.
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