By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:2–3
Have you ever wondered why God took six days to do all His work of creating? Surely, He could have done it in three or two or one. Why six? And why did He need a rest on the seventh day? Was He super tired? It’s amazing how familiar we can be with a passage, yet not see that which is so blatantly obvious—God chose to do creation this way, in six days, followed by a day of rest, for us! God begins His story, the Bible, by sharing a model for us to follow—the weekly rhythm of work and rest. How can I be so quick to assume that God did it this way for us? Actually, it is the text itself that makes it clear. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness’…. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27). We are created in the image and likeness of God. Notice that the land produced fruit bearing trees “according to their various kinds.” And God created living creatures “each according to its kind.” But God created man “in His own image” that we should, like Him, govern the creation, and that we should, like Him, embrace His example of work and rest. As my seminary professor, John Sailhamer, has written, “the author intended the reader to understand the account of the seventh day in light of the ‘image of God’ theme of the sixth day.” He goes on to write: If the purpose of pointing to the “likeness” between man and his Creator was to call upon the reader to be more like God (see Leviticus 11:45), then it is significant that the seventh day stresses what the writer elsewhere so ardently calls upon the reader to do: “rest” on the seventh day (cf. Exodus 20:8-11). We aren’t always the sharpest tools in the shed when it comes to seeing what is so blatantly obvious in Scripture. God very intentionally went about creation in a manner that would point us to the fact that we are made in His image and, accordingly, called to a weekly rhythm of work and rest. Imagine, however, the Creator going to such great lengths to show the importance of Sabbath rest and for us, His creation, to ignore it? Tragic! Yet this is reality not just in the culture at large, but among those who count themselves followers of Jesus. Our “day of rest”, the day God blessed and made holy, so easily devolves into nothing more than getting a spiritual fix at the local church-mart. We put in our time (that is, if we didn’t find something more interesting to do Sunday morning) tipping our hat to our Maker before rushing off to the next event. This week, I was convicted about my own Sabbath practice as I studied Genesis 1-2. And, as I found in our monthly pastors prayer meeting, I’m not the only pastor who struggles to put Sabbath rest into practice. Obviously, as pastors, we necessarily have responsibilities Sunday morning. And yet, I know that I have the ability to make Sunday morning more or less about enjoying God’s appointed rest. There are simple things I can do to make Sunday more about Sabbath. First, I can arrive early enough to church that I am not rushing around. We live in a culture that seeks to cram as much as possible into our already busy schedules. WE MUST NOT CARRY THIS SAME ATTITUDE OVER TO SUNDAY MORNING. Instead, we must intentionally set our alarms and get ready early enough to provide significant margin to allow the day of rest to be restful. (Of course, this means that Sabbath preparations actually start Saturday night by shutting down electronics and activities at an hour that will allow for a good night’s sleep.) Second, I can view Sunday morning not like a dental appointment where I spend as little time as possible so I can get on with other things, but like a spiritual-health-spa where I come to linger and be refreshed spiritually together with God’s people. This might mean that instead of showing up as the service starts and leaving right when it’s over, I take advantage of more extended opportunities for growing together in Sunday School classes and for fellowship before and after the service. Third, I create space, before the service, to purposely prepare my heart for entering the presence of the Lord with His people. As a pastor, this means that I try to avoid talking with people right up until it’s time for the service to start so I can enjoy a few minutes of silent worship in the sanctuary as I get ready. And I try to let the call to worship be a call to worship for me as well, to let the words sink in, and to prayerfully turn my focus to my redeemer as I worship. All of these things take intentionality—Sabbath rest is not automatic in our relentlessly busy culture. However, I am reminded that Sabbath was important enough to our Creator that He exercised intentionality in creating not only the world, but a rhythm of weekly work and rest for us, His creation. May we grow in our faithfulness to the model He has given us, learning to, like Him, bless the seventh day and make it holy!
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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