REST!

"Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed” Exodus 23:12 (NIV).

"Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee".~St Augustine

Work is very important.  In Genesis 3:19, God told Adam, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground...”  We have to work in order to put the food on our tables and a roof over our heads.  However, in his goodness, God decided that it was not proper for man to work every day. Excessive labor destroys the body, mind and soul. He therefore decreed that man rests every seventh day.

The day of rest was sanctified for the benefit of the soul, and also for the health and comfort of the body and mind. When we solemnly dedicate ourselves to the Lord through worship, he refreshes our souls with boundless peace and quiet joy. He takes over our cares and worries.

The day of rest is also an opportunity for leisure and relaxation. We get free time to do pleasurable activities such as spending time with our family and friends. We relax and attain an increased state of calmness where our anxiety, stress or anger is reduced. We can sleep more and rejuvenate our immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems.

The seventh day was made for us, and it is prudent to uphold it.

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The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary that it is to be found in one's daily life, in one's neighbors, friends, and family, in one's backyard.~Abraham Maslow
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