Rest

Scripture

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By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. (Genesis 2:3)

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Observation

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Labour Day (1 May) was just over, but how many of us do actually rest? What an irony if we had to toil on "labour day", or on the off day in lieu of that. Many of us may neglect rest, given the patterns of our lives, especially when technology has enabled people to work from anywhere at any time. Many people today may think of rest as something they have to do, so they can work. If given a choice, some may even prefer bodies that don't require rest.

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Application

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Genesis 2 shows that our God both works and rests. God, in His omnipotence, obviously does not rest due to mental or physical exhaustion. He does not rest, so that He can become more productive. Clearly, rest is something more than the reasons we convince ourselves of. God wants us to rest, like He did, so that we get refreshment, enjoy the gift of stillness, give Him our burdens, to celebrate being in communion with Him and our other friends amongst many other blessings we could get.

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Prayer

 

Lord, thank you for granting us rest, so that we may enjoy your creation and the blessings you bestowed upon us. I pray for all our brothers and sisters, to be able to integrate rest and work into the pattern of life you intended. For those who were not able to get rest from labour day yet, whether it is by forced circumstances or by choice, we pray that God, you open channels for them to get this rest and in it, appreciate all the goodness that comes with it.