Numbers 29

“You are to hold a sacred assembly in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, and you are not to do any daily work. This will be a day of jubilation for you.” Numbers 29:1 (HCSB)

Isn’t it amazing that the Lord has to tell us to rest? Not only does He tell us to rest, but He actually made it a command! It is as if we would not rest unless some penalty were involved.

When I was a kid, I hated school. I did all I could to avoid my schoolwork…right up to testing time. Whenever it came time for testing, my laziness caught up with me. The test was about to expose my lack of initiative.  

School grades are indicators of progress, not intelligence. No matter how smart I may have thought I was, that was not the point. I had not seized the opportunity to improve.

When test time came around, I spent all my energy developing schemes to cheat. Sometimes, I would write notes on my arms. Perhaps I would look at someone else’s paper. Somehow, I would cheat the system because I thought I was smarter than the system.  

Did you know it takes twice as much energy to cheat as it does to study? Plus, you have to carry all that needless anxiety until you get your grade. How smart is that?

Do you know what the kids who studied a little bit every day do the night before the test? They rest. They don’t have to cram. They don’t have to cheat or worry if their schemes will go undetected. They simply recite what they have learned, and they pass the test.

Why do we have to be commanded to rest? Possibly, it’s because we’ve been lazy in our daily devotion to the Lord. Perhaps we have cheated God, and we lack what He provides to the faithful. It could be that we are busy trying to be our own providers instead of trusting God to provide an increase beyond our efforts.

Whatever the excuse, whatever our situation, we are COMMANDED to rest. Jesus said:

“Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)

The faithful should celebrate His rest, and the sinner should turn from his ways and enter into His rest.