Rest for the Unweary

After six days of creating a good universe and good things to fill it, God rested.  And yet we are told, "He who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps," (Psalm 121:4, NLT).

The fact that a God who spends every night sleepless without ever getting tired rests anyway says a few things about His character:



1. God is not an inanimate, unstoppable force. 

He is potentially limitless, but not out of control.  He is not an on-switch that some heavenly klutz bumped one day and could not shut off.  God has conscious control over what He does and how He uses His time.  He is complex and makes decisions.

2.  God is not concerned with testing His own limits; proving how deep, far, and wide He can go; or being efficient in production. 

These are things that we on Earth are increasingly concerned with.  Starting with the Industrial Revolution, efficiency (spending minimal time and effort to complete a task) has become a buzzword not only in the business world, but now also in education and even our personal lives.  We are so obsessed with efficiency, in fact, that we feel or are accused of being lazy when we take a break, or take our time. But if the Creator of the universe, the only being in existence with the potential to be 100% efficient, was not concerned about efficiency, why should we be?

(The Creator of the universe has all the time in the world, you say.  Some would say we do too, but more on that later.) 

"So what?" you say.

By resting when He could have continued working forever, God established a principle. It was the first negative action (absence of an action).  It meant that we, His Creations, could be more than machines or unstoppable forces either.

After resting Himself, God told His chosen nation (Israel) to keep a day of rest, the most restful rest (think holy of holies).  Not only a "Do as I say," but a "Do as I do" command.  God said that man was "very good" even in his inability to work without growing tired. He did not intend His people to work continually.  God created us to rest; He created us to be like Him.