The importance of resting

God completed the work of Creation with the creation of man and rested. After working for six days, He took a rest on the seventh day. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. “Holy” is the Hebrew means “separation.” The seventh day was a special day separated from the other days. The Bible says:

1 Thus the heavens and the earth and all of them were completed. 2 On the seventh day, God announced the completion of the work he was doing. That is, on the seventh day, he rested all the work he was doing. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. For that day he rested from all the creative work that God was doing. (Bible Genesis 2: 1-3)

The Bible has the Sabbath principle. The principle is that one day is always absent every seven days. Later this was made the law of the Israelites by the law.

8 Remember the Sabbath and make it a holy day. 9 You have to work for six days and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. You must not do any work. — You, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, your livestock, and the foreigners residing in your city — 11 that the Lord will bring you to heaven and earth in six days. For he made the sea and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath and proclaimed it holy. (Exodus 20: 8-11)

If we work too hard without resting, we will end up with burnout. It’s important to stay away from work one day a week. It is important to consciously set a day off. If we refresh ourselves by spending time with family and friends, taking a walk outside, going out to eat , playing sports, reading a book, etc., we will be able to work with a new feeling. Let’s enjoy life. Work should not be the only purpose of life. If we have any hobbies and change our mood, the stress will be released. When stress builds up, we can’t do a good job as a result.

Christian life, church life, and ministry (work, service) are not short-distance races, but long-distance races (marathons). Even if we do our best for a short period of time, if we stop halfway through, we will end up with a disappointing result. Instead, it’s important to stay faithful at our own pace, even if it’s slow. For that reason, it is absolutely necessary to take a rest and replenish water. It is essential for the body, the mind and the spirit. Resting gives us new power to work the next day.

The same is true in worship. Sunday is a holy day. It is a day to thank God for being protected for a week, to rest and rest before God. Put all the burdens on God, leave all the problems we have to God, and start a new week.

Nowadays, it is difficult to take a rest because there are smartphones and computers that can be connected immediately. It is difficult to separate public and private. If we feel that way, write “holiday” in our schedule book. Rest is the schedule for the day. And it is recommended that we do things that have nothing to do with our work. If we read a book that is related to our work, we may enter work mode. I think it’s a good idea to consciously read a book that has nothing to do with our work (sometimes it will be useful for our work later).

I think that taking a good break will allow us to continue working in the church for a long period of time, rather than continuing to work without rest. I feel that there are too many cases where the work of the church is stopped halfway. To be honest, it’s difficult to keep burning for a long time. There are times when we may find ourselves bored when we have been living in church for a long time and working. The important thing at that time is to rest. In some cases, we may want to rest for a long time. Resting refreshes our body, mind, and spirit and gives us new power to work. This is a divine principle. Of course, there are times when we are busy, and I think there are times when we can’t take a rest and have to work. This is especially true when we start a new business or work. At that time, I think we can work as an exception. Because there are times in life when we work intensively. But keep in mind that it is an exception. It may be the nature of Japanese people to feel guilty about resting. But we need to rest. Resting is a good thing. I believe that resting gives us new power and allows us to do productive work.

The importance of resting

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