Rest, Peace, Contentment

‘Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. (Exodus 31:15 NKJV)

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. (Psalm 37:7 NKJV)

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28 NKJV)

The Sabbath Rest

I find it interesting that a day of rest is commanded under the penalty of death in the Old Testament.  We hear of people not wanting to work but Biblically people want to work when they should be resting.  I realize that we are not bound by Old Testament law, but a day of rest would make us healthier, happier and wiser.  Most of us have trouble spending one day enjoying complete rest.  Many are getting phone calls and emails from employers on their vacations and “days off”.  I personally find it hard to not be doing anything productive one day out of the week.

Fretting Because of Evil

We live in an evil age.  Paul reminds us of the contrast between the peace of God and the turmoil of this age when he says, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen  (Galatians 1:3-5 NKJV).”   Obviously we live in an evil age, but the day is coming when we will be completely delivered from it.  That will occur for the saved at the rapture.  But God still wants us to enjoy peace right now.  He says, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27 NKJV).”  If you are like me there are mornings when you wake up with heart palpitations just thinking about things that I can’t control.  Evil is something that the Lord faced and the early apostles faced and the early church faced.  But it made them more effective, not less. I am not sure that I can honestly say that that is true in my life.  How about yours?

Resting and Not Working for Salvation

Most people are hoping to be ready to meet God on the “doing plan”.  We spend a lot of time telling Christians what to “do” now that they are saved.  An uninformed person coming to our meetings might just think that we who are saved believe in the “doing plan.”  But thank God, we are saved because of the “done” plan.  When the Lord said, “It is finished,” he meant that the work that saves was finished.  And it is that truth that allows us to have rest when we come to Him for salvation.  Even our service for Him after we get saved should be devotional and not obligatory.  If it is, we can enjoy peace and rest and contentment. 

Spending Time With the Lord

Doing things for the Lord is often the goal of our lives.  But spending time alone with the Lord is probably the one thing that the Lord would really like.  In the Old Testament he gave the Israelites a day when they could do that.  Certainly He wants us to spend time with Him in an unencumbered way as well.  

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the weeks of January 11 and 18, 2026

If you would like further conversation about the issues in these meditations, contact me at collinsbd@yahoo.com and I will try to accommodate you with a virtual Bible Study.