Work Hard. And Don’t Forget to Rest

Editor's Note: This article is related to William Boekestein's latest book titled, Finding My Vocation. The reader can order a copy of his new book on vocation here. Enjoy!

For people listening to God’s voice, the importance of work is a given. The Bible is a record of God working to redeem a people to work for him. And the fourth commandment presents a proper ratio for work: “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work” (Ex. 20:9). Over eighty-five percent of your week should be largely occupied by ordinary labor.

You were made to work.

But you weren’t made to only work. “The seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God: in it thou shalt not do any work.” Especially successful people are tempted to believe that their work is ultimate, that the meaning of their lives consists in production. To honor God’s intention for balanced living, you need a theology of rest that you thoughtfully implement on a daily and weekly basis.
 

You Need a Theology of Rest

A theology of rest is simple: God “knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:14). By commanding rest God cares for his children. You need time when you are not producing but only receiving, when you are not earning but only trusting.

God grounds the rule of weekly rest in his creation of the world and his rescue of Israel from Egypt. At creation God initiated a rhythm of work and rest. You work because God works. But you don’t share God’s omnipotence. God didn’t need to rest from his creative works. You do. You also need a day to remember that the Lord is your salvation, that he has rescued you from spiritual Egypt and will give you eternal rest in heaven. You can’t create that rest. You must receive it. And you can begin to experience it now as you gladly rest from your sins and from trusting in your perceived righteousness. You can’t do that as a disembodied spirit—you must set aside real time, on a real day, to practice rest in a world of real toil.

Besides accounting for fourteen percent of your life, the Lord’s day is meant to be like a pace car to keep your whole life in step with God. It helps calibrate your heart. It manifests your priorities. And it is one of the clearest ways that you testify to God’s sufficiency.[i] The Sabbath principle safeguards against basing your life on productive effort to the neglect of a trusting walk with the Creator. Your rest is not a work by which you engender God’s favor. It is just the opposite. We who “labor and are heavy laden” stop from our striving and receive Jesus’ promised rest (Matt. 11:28–30).

Like all doctrine, a theology of rest must be lived out; it must become woven into the fabric of your life.

You Need a Rhythm of Rest

In its most basic application, the fourth commandment calls workers to focus on other matters that are vital for a rich life with God. This must be done habitually.

You Need Weekly Rest

True rest usually demands putting a full stop to regular work every seventh day. But a biblical theology of Sabbath—literally “rest”—does not argue for inactivity, only for a different kind of vocational faithfulness and the exertion of other holy activities. You can actually profane the Lord’s day, and miss the rest God wants for you, through laziness![ii] Lord’s day labors of necessity, mercy, and worship demand real work!

The Lord’s day’s central rest-responsibility is congregational worship. God’s will for me in the fourth commandment is that “especially on the festive day of rest, I diligently attend the assembly of God’s people” (see Lev. 23:3).[iii] We violate the Sabbath when you allow yourself “to be ensnared by an insignificant excuse, from hearing and learning with longing hearts, the word of God in the company of the faithful.”[iv] So reject every “insignificant excuse!”

You Need Daily Rest
Solomon speaks of the vanity of rising up early and going to bed late, “eating the bread of anxious toil” (Ps. 127:2). Wise people know that they cannot cheat the necessity of sleep, and that it is good to step away from work to give time to other worthy pursuits. Some days will allow for little rest. Good workers recognize that and rise to the challenges, sometimes for days on end. But long-term flourishing requires proper balance (see Mark 6:31). In some ways this should happen every day. Shutting off work at a reasonable time each day helps you recharge and can actually spur creativity and productivity.

A well-regulated work-rest balance is the biblical alternative to retirement as the culmination of our labors. Better to pace yourself so that you can work well all the days of your life in ways appropriate to your age, strength, and season of life.

You Need Quality Rest

It may seem obvious, but rest is designed to be refreshing and invigorating. But most of us know what it is to gain little satisfaction from downtime. Is it really refreshing to retreat mindlessly into entertainment and overconsumption of social media? Is there a better way?

Plan Your Rest

Well-funded players in a so-called “attention economy” are employing powerful tools to cash in on your screen time. This means you need to be strategic in your pursuit of quality rest and resist the temptation to default to your phone. In your leisure you must develop what Kent Hughes calls “the discipline of refusal.”[v] In other words, decide in advance how you will spend your leisure time and say no to low-grade alternatives.

Work at Your Rest

Paul Helm observes that “the non-Christian attitude is to see leisure in sharp contrast to work, as a period of complete inactivity and self-indulgence.”[vi] But as God is always working (John 5:17), though not always in the same way (Ex. 20:11), even in your leisure you should be striving for genuine improvement, say in your health and family relations by way of a vacation or in your knowledge through reading a good book.

Get Alone

We are suffering from a new and unhealthy condition called “solitude deprivation: A state in which you spend close to zero time alone with your own thoughts and free from input from other minds.”[vii] And sitting alone with your phone is not the cure but part of the problem. One way to get alone is to get outside (Matt. 6:28), or turn off all media input during part of your commute.

Use Your Hands

Too many of us live in a world divorced from creative and tangible making that reflects the work of God’s hands. In a digitally mediated world working with your hands can be a rewarding way of leaving a positive mark on the world God has given you to steward.

The fourth commandment calls us to balance our lives in submission to God’s wisdom. In our fallen state we typically work too much or too little. God wants us to guard against both. The math is simple: You won’t achieve the rest you need if you always work. And while your work is important it isn’t the most important work. The Father created and sustains all things. The Son fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law for elect lawbreakers, fully paid the penalty that our sin deserved, currently intercedes for our salvation, and will come again in glory to redeem God’s children. The Spirit convicts us of our sin, compels faith in Christ, and encourages us in everyday faithfulness. In your work you must not lose sight of God’s work. And to do that well you must rest.