Are you able to rest one day per week? (65-2)

God’s example helps leaders know when to work and when to rest. Read Genesis 2:1-3.

By His very nature, God does not get tired so when he established a time on the seventh day to rest, it wasn’t to recover physically or emotionally from hard work. God had been fully absorbed in the work of creation and yet when He saw the work was complete “He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” God rested to establish the example of rest and an example of taking a moment to appreciate a job well done.

Because He rested God also blessed and made holy the seventh day. In over 30 verses in both the Old and New Testament God commands His people to keep the Sabbath day of rest so they will remember He is the Lord and He is holy; He tells of His blessing for those who keep the Sabbath and the troubles to come for those who do not. Leaders who follow God’s example will observe a day of rest to focus on God’s holiness and blessing.

God established this seventh day rest period as a permanent rule. God knew the joy of work and every time He looked at His creation “He saw that it was good.” Every leader carries within them the very nature of God and effective leaders love to work and they love to see the results of their work. But where God is perfectly balanced between work and rest, leaders often love the work so much they neglect the rest. God, understanding the very nature of His creation, chose to establish an example of rest for Himself as a model for His creation.

Too often leaders find their motivation in work. The wise, effective leader finds their motivation in closely obeying God’s word about both work and rest.

• Are you able to shut down “work mode” one day a week?
• Do you find time on that one day a week to focus on God and physically rest?
• If you don’t take a rest day once a week, meditate on God’s Word in Genesis and determine why you consider one part of God’s Word more binding than another.

See also Exodus 20:8-11; Isaiah 58:13-14 and Hebrews 4:1.