Saturday

Pray: Ask God to speak to you through his word today

Memory verse: for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:10)

Consider: When was the last time you got to the end of the week and were satisfied with everything that you had achieved?

Bible Reading: Genesis 1:31-2:3

Insight:

Is this how we see our week? That it is a struggle to get through and a relief to get to the weekend? With God it is different. He is able to sit back in satisfaction, reflect on all that he has made and be very pleased indeed.

Then God stopped work. He didn’t rest because he was tired, he simply stopped working because creation was complete. He had been working for six days and saw the next day as worthy of something different. He chose to then mark the seventh day as special and holy, perhaps in a kind of celebration. He blesses or perhaps more accurately praises it.

At this stage God doesn’t say anything about humans observing the Sabbath, in fact, it is not until the Israelites have left Egypt that they begin to do so. But it is this pattern of working for six days and stopping for one day that is another distinguishing behaviour that made the Israelites stand out. Eventually people who observed the Sabbath became known as those who were close to God.

Today, as we live in a 24/7 economy, the Sabbath takes on a new significance. Students work very hard, studying and working all hours to get the grades they desire while workers are asked to take on extra shifts, overtime and come in at weekends. Soon the only days we have ‘off’ we tend to fill up and run around doing all those jobs that we can’t get done during the week. Without a ‘stopping day’ we are soon exhausted, depressed and ill.

Tell Us: How busy are you?

Do you take time out to stop working? How do you relax?

How might you ‘rest in God’?

Prayer Ideas: Thank God that he has given us a pattern for sensible working. Repent for the times that you have over-worked and not taken time to stop and rest. Pray for anyone you know that is studying or working, that they will find satisfaction in the work that they are doing. Ask that your work this week would bring glory to God.

Do: Commit to make one day each week a ‘stopping day’. Take time that day to ‘rest in God’.

Further Reading: John Goldingay, Genesis for Everyone Part 1.