Thanking God for Rest
In this unit of Bible Studies for Life, Productive, we have been looking at the biblical teaching on work, including how to be generous with the income we receive. To be thoroughly biblical, however, any discussion on work needs to include the concept of rest.
The United States is a work-intensive culture. On average, Americans in the workforce work 11 hours more per week than in the 1970s.1 A June, 2013 CBS News report found most American workers are unhappy at work.2 I wonder if the extra work and unhappiness at work are related. Followers of Christ recognize the value of work, but we should also recognize the value of rest.
Rest is God’s Idea
God instituted a Sabbath day for the children of Israel patterned after His own activity. After the six days of creation, the Bible records that God rested: “By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.”3 This pattern of rest was instituted by God for the people, animals, and land.
Because we live in a society not given to biblical thought, not only is the idea of a Sabbath foreign, often the idea of rest is, too. Christ’s followers are forced into a mold of economic productivity driven by greed; which can make us feel like we are merely cogs in someone else’s wheel. We feel it in our relationships, our spiritual life, and our bodies. Weekends become recovery times rather than rest and recreation times. That is, for those who get a weekend.
God is Serious about Rest
So serious was the idea of a Sabbath rest for God, that He commanded Sabbath violators be put to death.4 As Nick and I noted in this unit, “Observing a weekly day of rest and worship is a gift from the Lord as well as a holy obligation. Throughout Christian history, most believers have applied the principle of setting aside a day of rest and worship to the first day of the week as ‘the Lord’s day’ (Rev. 1:10)”5
Because of the pressures around the workweek – and often the requirement of Saturday work – some Christ followers turn the Lord’s day into a day of physical entertainment. Our temptation to neglect worship in favor of football, fishing, or shopping is to our detriment. Gathering with other believers for corporate worship to the Father, Son, and Spirit is a significant part of our rest. We need to rest from work and rest in the Lord.
God has already done Salvation’s Work
The writer of Hebrews built on this concept of rest while reminding his readers we do not work for salvation. “The person who has entered His rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from His.” To say it another way, we receive salvation when we rest in God’s rest, not when we work to earn it.
We should be thankful for rest; both spiritual rest and the physical rest it encourages. We need not work ourselves to death for material possessions, as we have all we need in Christ. And, we need not work ourselves to death for salvation, as Christ has done all that needs to be done to secure it. Therefore, let us rest as God has and experience that bit of heaven here on earth.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Senior Pastor, Cross Church
General Editor, Bible Studies for Life
1–http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/life-line-healthful-habits-made-simple/2012/apr/22/nation-overworked-abandoning-happiness-and-health-/
2–http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57590832/
3-Genesis 2:2, 3 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
4-Exodus 31:15
5–Bible Studies for Life, Productive, by Ronnie and Nick Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
The Next Great Move of God
I have a growing conviction that we are on the brink of the next great move of God in America. I do not proclaim to have any special insight on this, but I just sense in my heart that God is preparing His people to do something special.
Seasons and Moments
I do believe we have had seasons and moments when God was up to something big, but we walked away from it. Hundreds of thousands of people who are my age came to Christ during one of these great seasons called, The Jesus Movement. Countless thousands of us were called into ministry and missions due to this great move of God. Since the church did not embrace it fully, in time, the movement seemed to subside. Yet, many of the results of that great move of God have been long lasting and eternal for, perhaps, millions of people.
It appears to me, some twenty years later, there was another great surge of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Matters like prayer, fasting, and holiness seemed to emerge in the ranks of Christianity. Great men like Bill Bright began to lead conferences on prayer and fasting, and at the same time, a men’s movement called Promise Keepers seemed to be rising greatly. The status in the nation, along with this rising tide of the Spirit of God, seemed to move us to the brink of entering the land of that next great move of God.
I Will Never Forget
Due to God’s movement in my own life in a profound manner, I found myself, on October 4, 1997, preaching to 1.3 million men in the Washington D. C. Mall at a Promise Keepers national gathering for men called, “Stand in the Gap.” As I left Washington D.C. that evening, I thought we were about to cross over into the unknown territory of the next great move of God.
Yet, for some reason, it seemed it just did not happen. Some would say they know why, and perhaps they do. I will leave that up to historians to decide. Yet, one cannot deny the powerful movement of God that led up to that day in Washington. It was something far bigger than conferences on prayer and fasting, or Promise Keepers. But for some reason, by the year 2000, this rising tide seemed to go back out to the sea, yet to return.
God Is Preparing His People
My life was changed by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the first movement I described, and I was involved actively in the second great movement. For the past ten to fifteen years, it seemed the tide would not roll in again. While the nation continues to fall into deeper depravity, the church seems to be losing ground greatly.
However, I am very hopeful! I sense God is rolling in the tide of the Holy Spirit in a fresh way. Yes, sin abounds in our nation; but grace abounds much more! While many churches seem powerless and others are dying, God is doing some mighty things in many churches across the land. While some may be closing their doors, others are entering into moments never before seen in the American church. Yes, I believe God is preparing His people.
Why I am Hopeful we are on the Brink of the Next Great Move of God
I choose to believe by faith that we are on the brink of the next great move of God for these reasons:
1. Desperation is growing. People are convicted, now more than I have seen in many years, God is our only hope. While desperation is growing, God is getting us ready! I believe all generations are desperate for God to do something great in our day.
2. Prayer is on the rise. I am hearing and sensing that prayer is on the rise in the church. People are beginning to cry out to God again. God always answers when His people cry out to Him in their desperation for Him to move. Extraordinary prayer always precedes the manifest presence of God. As desperation is growing, prayers are rising up from the people of God.
3. Leaders are ready. Everywhere I go and every spiritual leader I talk to is aware the need for a move of God is greater today than ever before in our generation. They know, with growing conviction, God is our only hope! Leaders appear to be more ready for this next great move of God than I have seen in years.
4. Church is the key. We hear continually that denominations and conventions are losing their meaningful influence they held in the past. Whether this is true or not, without question, even those in denominational or conventional gospel work, are aware the landscape has changed from even a decade ago. This places the church at center stage, just the way Jesus intended.
I believe this next great movement of God will fall upon a church that is experiencing:
- A return to the gospel. Not just receiving the gospel, but living out the gospel.
- A rising commitment to planting gospel churches nationally and globally.
- A revitalization and rebirth of vision and mission.
- A renewal towards compassion for the poor, the needy, the orphan, the widow, the broken, and the hurting; whether it has come from a person’s past, misfortune, or even a disaster, a renewal towards compassion is occurring.
- A release of people, dreams, and resources to the finishing of the task of making disciples of all the nations.
This is why I am hopeful we are on the brink of the next great move of God in our nation. The church is as ripe as I have ever seen it. If indeed the great outpouring of the Spirit happens in our generation, He will be poured out upon a church that is as ready as possible, and prayerfully desperate. When the church is prepared and prayerfully desperate, I believe we will cross on over into the land of that next great move of God and ultimately finish the task of making disciples of all the nations.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.