The Gift of Rest

The creator of rest: God modeled it first

Genesis 2:1–3 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

1. Rested
   ~ "shabbat" ~

   Isaiah 40:28 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”
   

2. The command of remembrance: Healing our tiredness

   Exodus 20:8-11 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God… For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth… but he rested on the seventh day.”

   "holy"
   ~ qadosh ~
   means to be set apart or "other"

   Deuteronomy 5:15 “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand… Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”

3. Restoring our whole self through rest
   

   Have you noticed how much harder it is to be "fruitful in the Spirit" when you are exhausted?

   Mark 2:27 “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”

4. Sabbath: Ceasing and Feasting

   Do you have the courage to stop?

   This is where Sabbath becomes an act of courage

   Sabbath is not a burden; it is an invitation.