Unfinished Work

Why did God take a day off? Did God need to rest? Was God exhausted after creation? Maybe or maybe not. But I don’t think God rested because God was tired. He rested because he was done. The scripture says, “And on the seventh day God finished all the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done”(Genesis 2:2). The work had been completed. God was able to enjoy His work because His work of creating was completed. Some of us don’t know what that is. We have never finished anything. Here is something to remember: We can’t bless what we have not finished. Unfinished work becomes a curse. There must be a point where we stand back from our work and rest from our labors. We cannot bless what we have not finished. Rest is important for our health. It is crucial for our well-being but if we never finish what we start then we will never get to a place of rest.
God still loves us in spite of our busyness but he must get frustrated with our work and/or rest habits. How do we start taking rest seriously? There is a couple of things we can do.

First, we can take a clue from God. In his work of creation the day begins not with morning but with evening. At the end of each day at the beginning of creation God says, “And there was evening and there was morning, . . .” The day begins the evening before and not the morning we wake up. So the day starts with us resting. It is a reminder that whatever happens the next twenty four hours ultimately God is in control. We start the day in vulnerability – asleep resting in the arms of God and not in the busyness of the morning hour.

The second thing we can do is change the name of that buzzing noise that wakes us up in the morning. We call it the “alarm” clock. What does that imply? Be alert, be on the look out, something or someone is lurching around the corner to devour you. At least this is the way I feel when I hear the sound of the alarm clock. So instead of an alarm clock you will from now on have a “resurrection” clock. It is God waking you up to live the gift of a new day.