The inscription on the Statue of Liberty cries out “give me your tired . . . The wretched refuse of your teeming shore . . . the . . . tempest tossed.” And for nearly 125 years she has greeted millions of immigrants and refugees who fit that description. Lady Liberty, however, makes no promise of how those who come to America will be treated nor how they will experience life in their new homeland.

Jesus makes a similar appeal in Matthew 11:28. His plea, however, comes with a promise: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (King James Version). But who has time for rest? In America we live by the notion that we have to get ahead and do so at any cost. Rest is for retirement and the weak. Those who get to the top don’t do so by taking breaks!

What if that thinking is backwards? What if success comes not by pushing, but by pausing? What if we’re missing life because we never take time to get off the merry-go-round? Christians live with the extra weight of being ambassadors of Christ, which sometimes leads us to think we can never take a break; we have to be “super human examples” in every aspect of life so non-Christians will want to be like us.

The Bible stresses the importance of rest. The word appears hundreds of times throughout the Old and New Testaments. But have we forgotten how important rest truly is? Are we missing out on the best of life because we’re so busy?

Let’s look at a few biblical examples and see what they can teach us about rest.

The first and most obvious biblical character who rested is God. After creating the world in six days, God rested on the seventh. “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work” (Genesis 2:2, New International Version). What is remarkable about this is that God had no need for rest. He didn’t rest because he was worn out from creating. God rested in order to set an example that encourages and enforces rest for his people. This command to rest is communicated in Exodus 20:10: “the seventh day is a Sabbath to the lord your God. On it you shall not do any work.”

Why did God command rest? I presume he commanded it because if he only recommended it, few of his people would have bothered to take a break from their toil. Look at our society today. New York used to be known as “the city that never sleeps.” Today America could be called “the country that never rests.” Sunday has morphed from a day of rest when our grandparents attended church twice and would never have dreamed of playing sports or doing yard-work, to a day of worship where it became acceptable to do those things if you had been to church in the morning, to a family day where the majority of people pack in as much draining activity as they possibly can. Even vacations today tend to incorporate as much activity and stimulus as possible.

God said “rest one day a week” as a minimum. He even did so as an example for us to follow. He knew what he was doing when we told us to do this. We don’t know what we’re doing when we ignore this advice.

From the time David was anointed king he was generally on the run. If he wasn’t fighting off bears and lions, it was the Philistine or Israelite armies. Imagine the sleepless nights tending sheep in the wilderness wondering what wild animal might pounce next. Then after being summoned to King Saul’s court he had to sleep with one eye open on account of Saul’s many attempts to take his life. Several times he had to flee from Saul as Saul enlisted the national army to hunt David down and kill him. On one of these occasions David actually fled to Gath (the hometown of Goliath) for safety! While there he had to act as though he was insane so that the Philistine king wouldn’t kill him. From Gath he ran again and settled in a cave (a dwelling place David found himself in on more than a few occasions). Later in life David had to run from his own son Absalom as he attempted to overthrow his father.

As difficult and stressful as many of our days are, few of us have endured a life of restlessness and tension similar to David’s. Where could a guy like David go to get a little rest? Where did he go to get restored and re-energized? He tells us in Psalm 62:1: “My soul finds rest in God alone,” and again in Psalm 91:1-2, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the lord, ‘He is my refuge.’”

It’s ironic that one of the main excuses people give for skipping church these days is because there is just too much to do. People complain they are too tired and busy to attend worship. Sunday has simply become another day to get the grocery shopping done or mow the grass. David knew an important secret—that worshiping the King of kings restores energy and reinvigorates the soul and body. Acts 3:19 reminds us that “the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”

Jesus had nowhere to lay his head, but interestingly enough he was able to sleep in circumstances when most others were not. On one occasion Jesus had embarked on a voyage on the Sea of Galilee when a violent storm suddenly arose. The disciples, some of them weathered seamen, came to him and exclaimed, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” To their frustration, as the world around them tossed and turned, “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion” (Mark 4:38).

Luke 5:16 tells us that “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” God incarnate recognized the need for regular rest time. In contrast we typically put off rest thinking we’ll get it on a long weekend or during our annual vacation.

We often feel guilty when we rest. Perhaps we ought to feel guilty when we refuse to rest. God created us for it. Pushing hard through every day without a break may be an indication that we believe we are the ones responsible for our provision and success, when in reality God is in control of these things. Day to day life is tough; wise people follow Jesus’ example of seeking regular times of rest.

Jesus also recognized that his followers needed rest. Mark 6:31 says, “because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’” Perhaps few of us could even find a quiet place; we fill our homes and heads with so much noise that rest is fleeting at best.

Jesus not only recognizes our need for rest, he is the source of true rest. “Come to me,” he says, “and I will give you rest.” Rest for the weary isn’t found in a marvelous statue outside New York City; it is a gift Jesus wants to give all who are “weary and burdened.” Let’s take time regularly in silence and solitude to spend with Jesus, who in turn will renew and refresh our minds and bodies. |L