Rest: fully human, not machine

”Work and rest live in a symbiotic relationship. If you don’t learn how to rest well, you will never learn how to work well (and vice versa). Work and rest are friends, not enemies. They come together to make a full, well-rounded life.”

In his book Garden City: Work, Rest and the Art of Being Human, John Mark Comer highlights this aligned relationship between work and rest. In the first two chapters of Genesis we see this relationship modelled in the creation account. Six days of creating and work by God and “on the seventh day He rested from all His work”.

“God works, so we work.”

“God rests, so we rest.”

This relationship gives shape to our weekly routines and rhythms. We work and then we rest or “shabbat” — that is “to stop” or “cease” or “be complete”. It can also be translated “to celebrate”! What a great way to view rest!

So, as you make time to rest and enjoy the completeness of your work week, what can you take time to reflect on and celebrate?

“The Sabbath is an expression of faith. Faith that there is a Creator and He’s good. We are His creation. This is His world. We live under His roof, drink His water, eat His food, breathe His oxygen. So, on the Sabbath, we don’t just take a day off from work; we take a day off from toil. We give him all our fears and anxiety and stress and worry. We let go. We stop ruling and subduing, and we just be. We remember our place in the universe. So that we never forget…there is a God, and I’m not Him.”

Or perhaps you are in a season marked by rest - a change of pace, focus and output over a longer period of time. This is good. We are not machines. We are fully human. In our humanity we have different seasons that reflect what we need and what God is calling is into. If you are in this place, what do you notice in this season that brings you to a place of celebration?

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” - Matthew 11:28