Do We Rest After Work?

When we have finished a week of intense work, are we taking time to rest, really?

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

Even God rested after completing creation. His major project and His involvement, He finished it and then sat back and rested. I can picture God putting the last star in the sky and sitting down in the rocker on the porch with a glass of iced tea and a smile as He drifts into a nap.

You see, we are to do our work, and then rest, but it seems as though there is always something getting in the way of our rest. We finished the project at the office and yet we take our office with us everywhere. Our phones, our laptops, our memos, our media. I know that for me I get caught up finishing my training classes, coming home only to think about what I am doing the next week. I find myself logging in to check email to see if there is something I missed in the past few hours. The thing is, I am not taking the time to walk away and clear my mind from the work, and therefore do not really rest.

We look to our vacation time for rest, but how many of us take our work with us? We go to the beach, and then set up our laptop to “stay in touch”. We justify it with wanting to minimize the amount of work we will have when we get back, but do we really rest from the work?

What is rest? Now that is a question. I believe rest is getting away from our daily grind to do something we enjoy. Whether that is mowing the grass, going to a ball game, attending a museum, taking a walk, a TV binge, a day on the back porch, reading for you, unplugging from the world, meeting with friends, floating the river, hanging with the family, writing a story, or whatever you do not get the opportunity to do when in the throes of your career.

We should be taking the time to walk away from work and rest. God did and he instructs us to do the same.

How many of us do as God and rest? When you find yourself finished on Friday, what is your plan for Saturday? What actions are you taking to rest after work?