The Gift of Rest
Open Your Bible
Genesis 1:1-31, Genesis 2:1-15; Ecclesiastes 3:1
BY She Reads Truth
Start each day by reading the Scripture. During this reading plan, we’ll then use the summary provided here to guide our discussion around the daily reading.
From the very beginning, God established rest as a part of creation, setting the seventh day apart from the other six days of the week. God rested on the seventh day because His work had been fully completed.
99 thoughts on "The Gift of Rest"
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I see and feel all the comments about not knowing what rest looks like with children and so many tasks. Our pastor’s study on the subject offered to us an explanation that you don’t do anything ‘revenue generating’ on that day, that you do try to spiritually replenish you and your family, and that you can “actively rest” to spend quality time with your family, which is pleasing to God. For example, a nature walk with your kids is great quality time, burns off energy, could give you an opportunity to share about God’s creations with them…and hey, bonus, it might lead to a nap. But, don’t spend Sunday evening on your laptop prepping for Monday morning, so that you have stripped away half of your off day prepping for work. Also, remember that you can sabbath on a day that works for you. Our pastor works on Sunday – and observes the sabbath on Monday
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Todays reading was powerful. Especially Ecclesiastes 3:1. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 was read at my Aunt’s funeral last week and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. God has a reason and timing for all things.
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@Michelle Avins- It’s so hard to “rest” from our work as moms when it is very nonstop at those ages. I have 5 children (9,7,4,3 mo old twins). My husband and I read John Mark Comer’s book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry during lockdown. It definitely helped. We try to sing a hymn at breakfast. I try to make meals ahead of time or we just get frozen pizzas, something that we don’t do all the time. We usually have a special breakfast. We go to church. I don’t focus on cleaning, but just being and resting. If something does REALLY need cleaning (ex. 4 year old had a toilet accident) or help I focus on how that helping is something that brings life. It also helps to have a different mindset to know that God is our provider and will take care of us. My husband used to turn off his phone which would help him focus on our family, it encouraged me to focus on us as well, even though I didn’t turn mine off.
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As a mom of 7 with my youngest being 15 months, it’s hard to truly rest. I think on the SRT podcast the guest this week said Sabbath rest was resting from your actual work. As a SAHM it feels like my “work” never ends. But I decided to not clean, do laundry, run errands on Sunday. I spent time WITH my kids instead of trying to take care of everything around the house. I took a nap with the baby and didn’t feel guilty about not using that time for something productive. It’s trusting God that things won’t fall apart when we take a day off, however that looks in your season of life.
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AZ Walker, I’m glad you were able to listen and enjoyed it! It was a timely message
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♥️
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Bailey- I haven’t listened to the podcast, but I understand the speaker’s point of view. With young children, you are always in motion and little rest happens. But I also understand what she was saying about doing things that “refresh” her family. We have started eating special breakfast after church on Sundays. It is an intentional time for our whole family to focus on one another and the special breakfast sets it apart from other days of the week. We try to be more present with one another. I know there are certain activities that are energizing and life-giving. Perhaps that is what she means.
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I listened to the church service that Mandi D recommended from Josh Howerton, Lakepoint Church on the Sabbath and inviting in the presence of the Lord. He said you can turn off your phone, take a walk and listen to worship music, doing whatever helps you experience the love of the Father and refresh your soul. He also raised children and made some really good points. Thank you Mandi!
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