REMEMBER TO REST

She slept like a baby and awoke $14,000 richer. She was the well-rested champion of Japan's unusual "sleep competition" held in Tokyo, where contestants hit the hay to hit the jackpot. According to Yahoo News, "dozens of participants [are] fitted with sleep tracking devices [and] sprawl on comfy mattresses to slumber for up to 90 minutes," and the deepest sleeper walks away with deeper pockets. In a nation notorious for its sleep deprivation, the competitive event was established to awaken an interest in the importance of rest. Who would have dreamed that a contest would have to be designed to encourage something as fundamental as getting some shut-eye?

However, those most in need of a wake-up call about rest are not the Japanese, but Jesus-followers. The real nightmare is that many believers work too much and rest too little. Gallup recently reported that only three in ten Americans rest on the Lord's Day. LifeWay Research similarly found that 25% of Christians today do not believe in Sabbath-keeping at all. But the truth is, the God who neither sleeps nor slumbers graciously set apart and sanctified a day of much-needed rest for the souls and bodies of His people.

The Creator ceased His work on the seventh day to set a standard for human beings created in His image (Gen. 2:2-3). The Lord similarly commanded that labor should be completed in six days, while the seventh should be reserved for doing nothing but resting (Ex. 20:8-11). And as Jesus taught, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). The God who made you instituted this redeeming rhythm of work and rest because you are not a machine. Your body grows tired, your soul needs recharging--and your gracious God has provided you with a day to lay aside labors and rest in Him.

Moreover, resting on the Lord's Day is an act of resting in the Lord. Leaving your work behind and laying down your head on Sunday is a way of saying, "God is in control--I am not. He can handle the universe without me. He will order my life according to His will while I sleep, and I will awake to His faithfulness." Refusing to rest declares the opposite: "I am like God--I don't need rest. He cannot operate the world without me."

Take time to rest, and rejoice with the redeemed of the Lord on Sunday. You will find that the reward for restful Sabbath-keeping is far greater than $14,000: "If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth" (Isa. 58:13-14a).