Listen

He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. But you can set aside and keep all the leftovers until the next morning.’”

The next day Moses said, “Eat it today, because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find it out in the field. Six days you will gather it. But on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be nothing to gather.”

Exodus 16:23, 25-26

Think

Some scriptures show Jesus resting and demonstrate that God recognizes, eagerly responds to, and celebrates the need to take a break and recharge. Today’s scripture helps us see that God believes this rest is of crucial priority, it is ordained to be a regular occurrence in our lives, and it is so important that we need to set aside a day for it. This day is called Sabbath.

Moses tells God’s people that while they are traveling through the wilderness, they will need to eat to be restored, but at the Lord’s instruction, the work of preparing food will not come at the expense of their rest. They will not have to go out and gather their food on the Sabbath.

God also encourages us to look at ourselves and be intentional about rest. We are well served to be prepared for how we want to spend that time. That’s what it means to be intentional about rest: to consider what we need to do to recharge and make a plan to do those things.

Jenny Oliver Hinderer

Question to Ponder:

What activities, food, music, spaces, and so on, help you find relaxation or help you recharge?

Pray

Generous One, you feed me and offer rest. Ready me to gather and prepare, so that I will be receptive of holy respite. In the name of the God who provides, Amen.

Go

As the hours of the coming day pass, calm presence and bustling activity will ebb and flow.

God is near. God renews. Moment by moment. Each moment for the next moment.