Monday, August 15 – Exodus 20:8-11

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Growing up, you likely had family rules you agreed with and ones you hated. There were rules that made sense to you and others that were a complete mystery. As we get older, we sometimes see how the same instructions that once made no sense to us were often there to guide us through life.

From the very beginning, we see that Sabbath was a priority to God. He created the earth and made it a priority to rest on the seventh day. Here in Exodus, this same instruction was given to the people as a marker to set them apart as the people of God and to reflect the image of the God they served. Do we today have the same priority? Do we desire to reflect God in all we do? It can be exhilarating to live with a “Go-go-go!” mentality (and most of us do), but eventually this is exhausting. Over time, we get worn out and forget that it is God’s strength and work that gets us through. Our need for rest is not only a quick breather but a rejuvenating rest in God. In the Old Testament, He set a certain day apart to make it holy—a day that His people could truly rest in Him. Have you made space in your life to make this a priority or are you overwhelmed with busyness? Does rest always seem a couple of completed tasks away or is it a regular priority in your life? Praise be to God that we do not need to have it all together or stay productive at every moment. He knows our weakness, and He built us with a need to rest in Him. May we relish the joy of a God who wants to rejuvenate us through sacred time spent with Him.

• When in your life have you had a regular rhythm of rest? What did that look like?
• What would it look like to have rest as a regular priority in your life?
• Pray and ask God to show you what it looks like to set aside time to rest in Him.