Devotion 8/13, Rest in the Lord!
Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.
Exodus 23:12
We in the New Testament era are no longer under the Mosaic Law, for Christ’s death fulfilled the Law, and we are not obligated to perform the Hebrew ceremonial acts of the Old Testament. But there is value in the Law for it shows us the character of God. It shows us His thinking on many things.
God Himself rested after creating the world and everything that is in it (Genesis 2:3). When Jesus walked this earth He rested as well (Mark 4:38), we are to live our lives as He did.
Everyone needs rest, God created us to need rest. When we neglect to get the rest we need we should not expect our lives to go well.
Even the unsaved world teaches that a person needs rest for their body and mind and there is an abundance of data to back up their claims. So when we repeatedly do not get enough sleep to refresh our bodies, we are courting disaster. Our minds are not as sharp, and our physical bodies fail when we are habitually not well rested.
Our bodies, as children of God, are His temples (1 Corinthians 6:19), and we should keep these “temples” as healthy as we can so that we can serve God in all the ways He calls us to serve Him.
We should never be so busy or work so much that we become ineffective for God in this world. He has many things for us to do but we cannot do them if we are exhausted all the time.
Father God, thank You for sending Jesus to not only die for my sins, but to give an example of how I am to live my life. Help me to get adequate rest each day so that I may be a faithful witness for You in this world. I give You all praise, honor, and glory this day, Lord, Amen!
Rest, rest in the Lord.
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