Rest - Part 5 - To Rest is Divine

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.  (Gen 2:1-4)

Did God need a break?

Why does God rest?

Does God get tired?

Why does the Hebrew story of creation make such mention of a God who not only rests, but makes resting "holy"? While all the other "days" of creation are described as "good" or "very good", the day of rest is sacred.

The Hebrew word the Torah uses to describe the seventh day is "Kadosh", which was generally meant to indicate being "set apart", or referring to the distinction between the divine and the created. Things that are Kadosh have the character of the divine, they reflect those higher things that transcend this world and its ways.

I think the point in this passage is that rest is a reflection of God's character. God doesn't rest because God needs it. God rests because God is God...it's just something that God does. God's resting isn't about fatigue or limits or boundedness, it's about God's own essence expressing itself.

Which may not seem very earth shattering at first, but if we consider ourselves to be people who imitate God, who try to live lives that reflect God to the rest of the world....

It seems we have some resting to do.

And not because resting is utilitarian, and maybe not even because we need it.

Essentially we should rest because resting is divine. To rest is Godly. To rest is to imitate God. Or for those of us who describe ourselves as Jesus followers; part of following Jesus is resting.

Now maybe that doesn't seem very new to you. But it is to me.

I always thought following Jesus was about doing.

Maybe it's not just doing the kinds of things that Jesus does, but being the kind of person Jesus was...a person who rests.

Think about all of the times Jesus pulls away from the crowds: all the missed opportunities to heal and teach. Maybe if he'd spent a little more time giving sermons, our theology could be a little clearer today. But he doesn't. I always just assumed he was being strategic, or at least wise...you know, resting so that he could get back out there and really do his thing. I never thought that resting for Jesus might just be a part of who he is. He isn't frantic, or restless, or perpetually busy, or driven - even though that would seem to be the best way to maximize the outcome of cramming his life ministry into three short years.

So today I encourage you to imitate God in both ways:  work hard, create, be productive just like God was for 6 days. But then also imitate God in resting.

Not because you want to,

not because you need to,

but because to rest,

is divine.