Rest

This devotional is written by Henrietta Blyth. She is married to Rick who loves her garden.

8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

I like those articles in magazines about "my favourite Saturday" or "what I do at the weekend" and celebrities talk about their favourite things to do. It is so interesting how different we all are; I am constantly intrigued by the way people choose to spend their time off.

In Exodus God told Moses to tell the Israelites to "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy... the seventh day is a sabbath day to the Lord your God." We are made in God's image and again he gives us himself as an example. God made the heavens, the earth and the sea in six days and then on the seventh he rested. So we need to rest then too.

I wonder what God did on that seventh day? I bet he kicked back and surveyed all that he had made. I reckon he basically just enjoyed his creation.

I like to enjoy God's creation on a Sunday too. I like to sit in our kitchen and spend time with him while looking at my garden and marvelling at all that he has made. I like to go to church and worship him and meet other members of his family. I like to have a nice lunch with family and friends and then go out into my garden and sort stuff out, plant things, weed, water, generally admire God's amazing handiwork! Turns out even worms can be quite fascinating...

It is very, very rare for me to work on a Sunday. I don't look at work emails. I recharge. Going to church always feels to me a bit like filling your tank with the Holy Spirit ready for the week ahead. Running on empty is a recipe for failure and the Sabbath is God's way of preventing it.

If we are not careful "working from home" during lockdown turns into "living at work". Good boundaries between work and rest are really when we are doing both in the same place.

Practicing the Sabbath is more important than ever.