The Lies of Busyness: Devotions From Time of GraceSample

“I don’t have time to rest.”

A couple years ago, I heard about how one of my former professors makes a conscious effort to seek Sabbath rest on Sundays. I was intrigued. How did she manage to “give up” so much precious time on Sunday and still get all her errands and cleaning and to-do lists done? I started reading up on the Sabbath and its value for today’s Christians.

What I learned surprised me. Numerous books and articles I read pointed to a biological need for consistent, weekly rest. Could it be possible that God actually designed our bodies to need a day off each week? Was the scientific evidence true--that mental and physical rejuvenation for one day a week actually causes people to get significantly more done in six days than they can in seven days when they don’t make time to rest?

Mark 2:27 indicates that the Sabbath is something God intentionally created for our good: “Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath’” (NLT). Jesus isn’t explicitly clear what those needs are, but we know that we humans need rest. We need refreshment. Most of all, we know that we need to stop and pause and fill our cups with God, even if it’s not on Sundays or for an entire day.

Making time to rest in the Lord can be really challenging, but the benefits of that rest are worth the effort.