OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: THURSDAY JULY 11TH 2024
TOPIC: THE LAW OF REST
MEMORISE:
“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” - (Hebrews 4:1
READ: EXODUS 20:8-11 (KJV)
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
10 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
MESSAGE:
After creation, God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). How is it that the Almighty, All-powerful God needed to rest? He did not need to rest; He can never be tired. If He had been tired, then He would have been tired at least once in all the thousands of years since the earth was made. Psalm 121:4 says that He never sleeps nor slumbers. Therefore, resting on the seventh day was not for Him but for us; He was establishing a law that we should follow for our own good - the law of rest (Exodus 34:21).
The law of rest is to be applied to your land, animals, and staff. You must not let your staff work for seven days a week; they must have at least one day to rest and be refreshed (Exodus 23:12). This is important for them to be productive the next week. Also, you will get the best out of your farmland if you leave it to rest for one year every seven years (Leviticus 25:4). It is a law that will increase your productivity greatly.
If you think that working for seven days will bring more productivity than working for six days every week, you are wrong. There is a fast-food restaurant in the United States of America that works for only six days and is closed on Sundays. That restaurant is one of the fastest-growing fast-food restaurants in the world. Resting for one day every week greatly improves your productivity as opposed to working for seven days a week.
Working continuously without rest will damage an individual’s health. Many people have died because they did not rest as they ought to. Going against this law can bring great danger to a fellow’s health and life. I was telling one of my sons about this law of rest, and he looked at me in a funny way as if to say, “You? Do you rest?” I told him that I rest, even though he may not know it. I wouldn’t be this productive if I don’t rest. In fact, there are periods in the year when I don’t go anywhere; I just stay in a quiet place to rest. My body will no longer be useful to God if I damage it just because I am so zealous about the ministry that I disregard the law of rest.
KEY POINT:
Work hard, but make sure you take out time to rest so you do not wear out your body.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: ECCLESIASTES 9-12
HYMNAL: 29 - WHEN PEACE LIKE A RIVER ATTENDETH MY WAY
1 When peace like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul."
Refrain (may be sung after final stanza only):
It is well with my soul;
it is well, it is well with my soul.
2 Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control:
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and has shed his own blood for my soul. Refrain
3 My sin oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
my sin, not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more;
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! Refrain
4 O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend;
even so, it is well with my soul. Refrain
