"Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed."{Exodus 23:12}
Under the Law of Moses God commanded the people that they would REST on the seventh day. No manual labor could be done by them, their servants or animals. Why? In our text we find the answer that they "might be refreshed." When the people were slaves in Egypt no such "rest" was given and their lives were full of toil. God knew that man need to "rest" in order to refresh his body.
Just recently my wife, along with another couple from the congregation I labor with, took a ten day vacation. It was so relaxing and really helped me to wind down from a busy schedule. Just being with friends, no phone ringing, no classes, no deadlines to meet, no lessons to prepare and best of all getting to spend quality time with my wife I can well understand the benefit from rest. Please allow me to share with you some additional benefits of rest.
Frees us from stress. "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."{Matthew 6:31.32} I've read that the number one killer of people is stress. Stress comes in many forms and is different for every person. Preachers can be stressed by so many different variables. Brethren who are weak, problems people are having, health issues with older members, and just trying to be effective in doing the work of a local preacher. Preachers must be careful to plan into their schedule time to "get away" from the daily grind. Some preachers take one day a week and get out of the office and away from the work. Personally speaking, I've not been able to get that accomplished in all the years of my work. What I've done in the past few years is when I begin to feel pressure and am getting mentally and emotionally fatigued-I get away for a day or so. Mostly we go visit my kids and grandkids that live four hours away. This does two things-I'm refreshed and we get "grandparent" time.
Unfortunately, some people seem to have no time to rest. No vacations, no time to themselves and do nothing but work and worry. Such patterns will one day catch up with these folks and their bodies will pay the price. Marriages must have quality time to remain strong, children need time to build our relationships with them and most of all we need to be refreshed to give our best to the Lord. God knows what is best for man and his body-he created it. Let us work diligently in His kingdom but don't work and forget to rest-one may rob God of years of additional service!