6 Great Bible Verses About Rest and Relaxation

Are there Bible verses that say anything about rest and relaxation?  If so, what can they say to help us rest and relax?

The Sabbath Rest

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 a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.  For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

God knows us all too well and realizes that we tend to overdo it, so God in His great wisdom actually gave us a command that He knew we needed; a command to rest.  When I used to work in management, I tended to work almost 24/7 but when I became a believer, I rested at least one day a week and what happened?  I found that I could actually get more done in six days with a day of rest than I ever could in working seven days.  Being stubborn, I resisted this at first but when I finally came to realize it, it was in my best interest, I tended to not “burn out” as much and as I said, I was able to accomplish more in only six days than I could working every day of the week.

There is also the idea for an agricultural nation as Israel was…that is they needed to rest their beasts of burden so they too could recover from a grueling week of work.  God blessed the seventh day and so we are blessed when we observe it.  It is for our own good too.

God’s Sabbath Example

Genesis 2:1-3 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.  So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

God gave us an example by resting on the seventh day, not because He was tired, but because He left us an example and by doing this, the day was made holy.  Today most Christians rest on Sunday, the day that the Lord was raised from the dead.  Others have to work Sunday or weekends but they should still try to rest at least one day a week.  We should also strive to rest on Sunday or whatever day we can.

Christians Have Entered His Rest

Hebrews 4:3-4 “For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”

For believers, we have entered our rest from our works by believing in Christ.  The Mosaic Law contained various works like washings, offerings, and feast days and these were required by God but these were a shadow of what was to come in the work of Christ on Calvary where He said “It is finished” (John 19:30).  They were a shadow but Christ is the reality.  What are the only works we need to do today?  Let Jesus answer this: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29). Even the land was to have rest (Lev 25:4) so how much more do we need to rest…rest our bodies, our minds, and rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus gives us rest (Matt 11:28) for “man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27-28) because He knew we needed it. Even in the wilderness, God said that “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Ex 33:14). In a similar fashion, Jesus said “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28).

Elijah the Prophet Needed Rest

First Kings 19:4-8 “[Elijah] went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough (or “I am exhausted” or “I done!”); now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.”

Elijah ran for his life for fear of Jezebel killing him and ran until he was completely exhausted and when we get hungry and tired we can plunge into extreme depression, perhaps from being overworked or from persecution, then we can easily think “Lord, I’m done…I can’t go on anymore! Stick a fork in me.”  Here, Elijah was so fatigued and fearful that the combination of these two things made him want the Lord to just take his life, right there on the spot.  What was God’s reaction?  God sent an angel who made him lie down and sleep “under a broom tree” where there was likely shade.  Then, an angel of the Lord touched him and told him to eat baked cakes and drink from a jar of water.  Elijah did this and once again he laid down to rest.  That is just what he needed.  God sent this angel to give Elijah nourishment and rest.  These two were desperately needed for Elijah and rest and nutrition are just what we need when we get tired and hungry because when we get extremely fatigued and hunger, we get depressed, fill like giving up, and want to just give up…or worse, want to end our life.  It also makes us extremely agitated and it doesn’t take much and we are ready to explode with anger.  God knew just what Elijah needed…and He knows that we need the very same thing!

God Gives Us Rest

Psalm 127:2 “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”

How  many days did I used to get up early and work until late in the night and it was in vain for when my mind because so tired, I began to make unwise decisions and I couldn’t concentrate so my productivity plummeted.  I was not taking advantage of the fact that God “gives to his beloved sleep.”  I was robbing myself of the crucial necessity of rest.

Conclusion

Hebrews 4:9-10 “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.”

If you are feeling weary and worn out from living the Christian life or from just keeping a hectic schedule, there is a Sabbath rest for you and if you read the context of this chapter, it is not talking about a certain day of the week although we all do need at least one day a week to rest.  For me, as a pastor, my rest comes on any day but Sunday because I am a bi-vocational pastor and frequently my Sunday includes Sunday school, the sermon, perhaps some counseling, a board meeting, and then off to work so I must rest on another day.  Anyway, these verses are not about a certain day of the week but entering into the rest of Jesus’ finished work on the cross.  Just as Christian’s cannot work to save themselves we must rest in the work that Christ has done for us that we could not do for ourselves so “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb 4:7c) because this is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2) for tomorrow may be too late if you were to die today or if Christ returns.  Then, you shall never, ever rest, day and night, 24/7, and for all time (Dan 12:2; Rev 20:11-15).

Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book  Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon