Rest Up!

Leviticus 23
3 “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.”

7 “On the first day of the festival, all the people must stop their ordinary work and observe an official day for holy assembly. 8 For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. On the seventh day the people must again stop all their ordinary work to observe an official day for holy assembly.”
24 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn, you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet. 25 You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the Lord.”

28 “Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you, making you right with the Lord your God.”

36 “For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special gifts to the Lord. This will be a solemn occasion, and no ordinary work may be done that day.”

This chapter is dedicated to the Lord’s instructions on Holy Festivals. It is interesting to me that in addition to the Sabbath, the LORD consistently sets aside days of “rest.” With every major Holy Festival there are days when no ordinary work is to be done. Those days are to be set aside to worship the LORD God. It strikes me that in our fast paced lifestyle in America today ignores this command to rest. Several years ago, my friend and peer mentor Jeff Sagstetter mailed to me John Ortberg’s book, “The Life You’ve Always Wanted.” The chapter on slowing has had a tremendous impact on my life. How liberating it is to realize that the world will go on even if I take a nap! Having just gotten back from a very relaxing cruise, I can tell you that this past weekend was a Holy Festival of rest. I gave no thought to work, to family situations that have burdened me, etc. for the entire weekend. I did spend time with God in prayer and Bible reading. How refreshing! My prayer for us all these days is that we will practice resting in the loving arms of our Lord. It is essential to our spiritual and mental health!