What does it take?

Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest.   — Exodus 23:12

Today’s technology allows some people to work 24/7. We can bring our work home or take it on vacation. Work is ever-present with us — except when the electricity goes off.

An ice storm last winter covered several states in a thick glasslike glaze. Trees and branches fell, blocking roads and keeping people home. Power lines fell, leaving people in cold darkness, unable to accomplish anything that required electricity.

Whenever something like this interrupts my life, I realize how important my own work is to me. Without it, I feel unimportant, unproductive, and useless. But God doesn’t want work to be that important to us, and we shouldn’t need a power outage to get us to stop. In the Old Testament, God had a plan for getting His people to stop and pay attention to Him. It was called Sabbath. On the seventh day of the week, they were to stop their work (Ex. 23:12).

Although New Testament believers aren’t required to keep this law, rest is still important. Practicing a day of rest can keep us from the faulty belief that our work is more important than God’s.

What does it take to make you stop and pay attention to God?   — Julie Ackerman Link

He gives me work that I may seek His rest,

He gives me strength to meet the hardest              test;

And as I walk in providential grace,

I find that joy goes with me, at God’s pace.   — Gustafson

READ: Genesis 2:1-7

If we do not come apart and rest awhile, we may just plain come apart. — Havner

The Bible in one year:

• 2 Chronicles 13-14

• John 12:1-26