Next week my family and I are out of town on vacation. Kira and I are celebrating our 20 year anniversary by taking a family vacation. Not only is it a time to celebrate but it is a time to rest and relax. We need it too. We both work hard in our jobs and ministry in addition to raising our kids and getting them to all the places they need. It’s going to be so nice to slow down and rest.
There is a need for that in everyone’s life. God did not make us to be people that never stop. We are made to need rest. Not just everyday rest when we sleep but I believe we need to make sure to take time out each week to recharge as Christians. The Bible speaks positively about rest. It is a repeated idea all through Scripture beginning in the first week of creation (Genesis 2:2-3). God rested after six days of creation to set an example that would later be found in the Ten Commandments when God said for His people to “remember the Sabbath” (Exodus 20:8-11).
The commandment to rest is not an excuse to be lazy nor neglect responsibilities. To rest is to trust that God will take care of things for us even if we are not working 24/7. Its about trusting God that the world will not explode if we stop for a moment. We need to relax our grip on our own lives. jobs, and families and let God handle it in faith.
Ultimate, rest is found in Christ. Jesus invites us to come to Him all “who are weary and heavy laden” and He will provide rest (Matthew 11:28). While we may not observe the Jewish Sabbath we have still have rest because Jesus provides it to us. In Jesus we can stop worrying about working a law that we can’t keep perfectly anyway and trust in Jesus. That is true rest. Rest easy not just on vacation but rest and relax because Jesus is our rest. This is not a rest that comes once a week or once a year but a rest that comes everyday when we are in Jesus.
God loves you, and so do I,
Alexander Mills