I think that we underemphasize the importance of rest. I might be thinking about this more since I just returned from vacation, but I really think it is true. Our culture seems to emphasize work. We work for money, we work on ourselves, we work on our relationships, we work to make the world a better place. We work, work, work and then in a rare moment of pause for reflection - maybe while sitting in traffic on our way to work, we think about how tired we are and then we get to work and forget all about that momentary pause. We work to make our kids life better, we work to give them all the opportunities they ask for, we work to serve our church. And then we take a moment - maybe when we get sick - to think about the fact that we seem to have lost time for things like reading the Bible. But then we get better and go back to work. We work on making our house and life more presentable to others, we work to get better at Bible reading, we work on making a fuller prayer list. And then we take a break in line at the store because the cashier is slow and we think about how nice it would be if we could just take a small break from it all.
I think this is why the Scriptures record rest from the beginning to the end. (see Genesis and Hebrews for some really good detail on this) I think this is why the Bible says that Jesus took time to rest and pray. I think that this is why God gave in the law a commandment to rest, one day out of seven (and that is just the beginning - look at the law of Jubilee for even more rest!)
I wonder if we will take a moment to consider the importance of rest for worship. Will you stop for a moment this week and consider how to add rest to your work schedule? Maybe take a moment to work on resting!
