What does the Bible say about rest and relaxation?

Answer

“Rest” is defined as “peace, ease, or refreshment.” “Relax” means “to become loose or less firm, to have a milder manner, to be less stiff.” The Bible speaks highly of rest. It is a recurring theme throughout Scripture, starting with the creation week (Genesis 2:2-3). God created for six days; then He rested, not because He was tired but to establish the standard for mankind to follow. The Ten Commandments made resting on the Sabbath a requirement of the Law (Exodus 20:8-11). Note that God said, “Remember the Sabbath.” It wasn’t something new; it had existed since creation. All God’s people, their servants, and the animals were to have one day in seven to rest. The command to rest was not an excuse to be lazy. You had to work for six days to reach the Sabbath. The land also needed to rest (Leviticus 25:4,8-12). God takes rest very seriously.

God desires rest for us because it does not come naturally to us. To rest, we have to trust that God will take care of things for us. We have to trust that if we take a day off, the world will not stop turning on its axis. Since the beginning (Genesis 3), when we decided to start making all the decisions, mankind has become more tense and less able to relax. Disobedience in the Garden started the problem, but obedience now will bring the rest that God desires for us (Hebrews 3:7 – 4:11). If one of the definitions of “relax” is “to become less firm,” then relaxing our grip on our own lives, careers, families, etc., and entrusting them to God in faith is the best way to relax.

For the Christian, the ultimate rest isS found in Christ. He invites all who are “weary and burdened” to come to Him and cast our cares on Him (Matthew 11:28; 1 Peter 5:7). It is only in Him that we find our complete rest—from the cares of the world, from the sorrows that plague us, and from the need to work to make ourselves acceptable to Him. We no longer observe the Jewish Sabbath because Jesus is our Sabbath rest. In Him, we find complete rest from the labors of our self-effort because He alone is holy and righteous. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” «For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.», (2 Corinthians 5:21). We can now cease from our spiritual labors and rest in Him, not just one day a week, but always.