“And on the seventh day, God finished His work that He had done and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. So, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.”
– Genesis 2:2–3
Genesis 2:2–3 is a pretty humbling. A reminder to see this picture of the God of the universe after creating the world. That was quite a week. And on the seventh day after creating everything in the universe, He rested. So, there’s this picture of certainly a dignity given to work and then a dignity given to rest. I think about my life. I think about how prone I am to business. How I run from one thing to the next, for my mind to always be going. If I’m not careful, just to be so focused on this and that and this and that, that I don’t have a rhythm of rest in my life. I’m guessing I’m not alone in that. God is clearly reminding us with this picture in the very beginning of the Bible of the value of rest.
Believers are to work hard, but must see the necessity of resting responsibly.
This Verse Reminds Us to Rest
I just want to encourage you amidst the business. I can only imagine in your life, is in my own life. You talk to people today and say hey, how are things going? People are like, oh, things are busy. They’re crazy. This and that. So, in the middle of that, God designs for you and I to have rest, like physical rest. Then, as we walk through the rest of scripture, we can’t dive into this all right now, but ultimately a spiritual rest in Him. A rest in Him from all of our working because we know that we live by grace. Ultimately by the grace of Christ on the cross for us.
Genesis 2:2–3 Prays for Hard Work and Responsible Rest
So, we pray. God, help us to work hard. Lord, help us to work in a way that brings glory to Your name. Help us to do all that you have called us to do in our work, in jobs, in school, in the responsibilities You’ve given to us. God, help us to work hard and work well and work wisely for Your glory. Then as a part of that picture of work, help us, we pray, to rest responsibly.
God, I think about times in my life where I have not had any priority on rest and how detrimental that was. How unhelpful that was in my life, in my relationship with You, and my family, even in my job and my work in ministry even. So God, I pray that you would help me to keep a responsible rhythm of rest in a way that reflects what we see here in the very beginning of creation. I pray that for every person who is listening to this. Lord, help us, we pray, to work wisely and hard and to rest responsibly in a way that brings glory to Your name, in both in our work and in our rest. We pray this in Jesus Name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
