God-Given Rest

The Sabbath for man was made

That he might find rest from his labor

God loves us and had us in mind,

So He actually did us a favor.

The pressures of toil in life

Can alter our focus and tire;

In peaceful repose on His Day,

Strength to press on is inspired.

Dislike we the laying aside

Of worldly affairs and concerns?

May our hearts in His rest find delight,

Unanxious our cares to return.

For His rest was not purposed for pleasure--
Doing whatever we please.
However, our worship He seeks
And that Spirit-led prayer on knees. 

-- Charity, girl, age 17

Scriptural Basis:

"By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made." (Gen 2:2-3 NASB)
 

"Jesus said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.'" (Mar 2:27-28 NASB)

"Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." (Isa 40:31 NASB)
 

"'If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, Then you will take delight in the LORD, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."  (Isa 58:13-14 NASB)

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (Joh 4:23-24, NIV)

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. The painting "Resting in His Arms" © 2012 is by Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist. Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.