Doing Our Best Before We Rest ~ Sunday Devotional

Janet Rubin

I’ve just reread the Creation Account in Genesis. After giving a description of God’s six busy days, it says, “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all His work.” God took a rest. He’d spent six entire days, universe-creating—speaking into existence frogs and camels, dandelions and oak trees, volcanoes and deserts. Everything we see and many things we don’t. I’d say that was a pretty productive week, wouldn’t you? God deserved a rest and He took one because it was time to do so.

If the verse was about me, it might read something like this: “And at 8:00 a.m. , after Janet had hauled herself out of bed and brewed a pot of coffee, she rested at her computer reading email for an hour.” Or, “Exhausted from typing one paragraph, Janet spent the next two hours reading blogs.” See the difference? The God-like thing to do is to actually do some work—some brain-straining, keyboard-pounding work, before rewarding one’s self with a rest.

Once God created the world, He gave Adam, the first man, a job. Genesis 2:15 says,

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.”

This is before sin entered the world, so Adam’s assignment as garden-tender couldn’t have been some kind of punishment or consequence of sin. The world was still perfect. Just like everything else, work was created by God. And just like everything else He created, it was good. Work is a gift from God, something in which we can experience joy and find satisfaction. Rest is His gift too. We need His help to be disciplined and wise enough to know when to work and when to take a break.

Lord, I admit it. I waste a lot of time and take a lot of breaks I haven’t earned. Please help me not to be lazy and distracted from working wholeheartedly for You. Thank you for providing a day of rest to refresh me each week. Amen