Why Is The Sabbath Rest Essential?

We live in a world where we feel there is much to be accomplished but little time to accomplish it. In a world with great innovations aimed at making work easier, why are we still overworking ourselves? Why are we still multitasking? No doubt everything of late requires speed. From high internet speed connectivity to processing speeds we seem to be engrossed with the tyranny of the urgent. It seems the world is moving fast for mankind.

Multitasking is becoming a usual phenomenal. Men and women are straining their bodies through the week without rest. This has far reaching implications to the human body. Our bodies need rest that's why our creator 'created' rest at the end of six days of creation. So why is the Sabbath rest essential?

GENESIS 2:2-3

And on the seventh day God ended 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.

1. PHYSICAL REST

God commanded man to work for six days and rest on the seventh day.

Exodus 20:8-11.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Resting on the Sabbath we get physical rest. Our bodies get enough time to rest and reflect upon the much God has done to us.

Not only is the Sabbath rest a commandment, it is also a break from the physical turmoil of life. Mark Finley says the Sabbath is a holy boundary placed in the weekly cycle. It stops the flow of endless time. It places a pause in the routine of our daily grind. The Sabbath is God's sacred escape in a frantic world.

2. A DAY FOR HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL RENEWAL

In the Sabbath rest we renew our relation with God. We rest and focus on our creator. We worship thus having a greater connection to our creator. Sabbath rest revitalizes and renews our health and nourishes us spiritually. Worship has a positive impact on our health. In fact studies have shown that worshipping reduces blood pressure.

3. A DAY OF BLESSINGS

Have you ever wondered why the Old Testament prophets usually called people back to their creator and deliverer? Many times they had forgotten one of the commandments - Sabbath rest. In Isaiah 58:13, the prophet tells of the Joy and the ride to the heights of the land. This is a promise of blessings.

If we observe the Sabbath we are assured of God's promises of Blessings.

4. IT'S A TIME FOR HEALING

In Christ's ministry no doubt we have seen the healing miracles he performed on Sabbath. In Luke 13:10-12 he healed a woman afflicted for 18years on a Sabbath. John 9:1-12 he restores sight to a blind man. He healed withered arms and raised on the Sabbath. Mark 2:27-28: the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath so the son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a true and divine intervention to our health mind and soul. The one who healed on Sabbaths back then will still heal you today and on His Sabbaths. He still calls you to this Sabbath rest.

In the Sabbath rest we rest physically, spiritually and mentally. Welcome all to the Sabbath rest. Welcome and tap its unique blessings and strength to push you through the week and through the hard times of life. Let's maintain this weekly cycle of rest. Let's rest.