Resting in God

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
(Deuteronomy 5:15 ESV)

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In the first announcement of the Ten Commandments, there’s a different reason as to why Israel must observe the Sabbath than this retelling in Deuteronomy. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11).
In Exodus, God tells Israel to observe the Sabbath day because it is a reminder of God’s work in creation. Here in Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people to observe the Sabbath because they need to remember they were once slaved in Egypt.

In both cases, the focus is on an act of God. He creates, and he rescues. The principle is to take one day of intentional rest to remember the Lord, that because of who he is, we need to take one day out of the week and rest in the presence of this awesome God who has the power to create all things and the love to show mercy to the lowest of people.

The focus is on God, not the abstaining from work. It’s all about him. It’s about setting your mind to remember your God and all he has done. I’ve honestly had a hard time doing this, because I tend to just remember all the busy and crazy things that happened throughout the week, and I reflect on them and rest from my work. But I need to use the sabbath day not to rest from being a workaholic, rather, I need to rest in God and commit myself to considering who God is and all he has done. That’s how to rest in worship, rather than relief from work.