When I was a kid, I didn’t like to sleep and wished I didn’t have to. I thought up a world wherein

no one got tired or needed to sleep; everyone was just awake all the time. There was no

nighttime, and instead, it was sunny all the time! The people in that world could work literally

around the clock. Or, they could have fun all the time, constantly going hiking or traveling or

hanging out with friends. I got stuck wondering how people would make plans. “I’ll see you

tomorrow” just doesn’t work the same when there is no sunset, no evening, and no bedtime. 

While I don’t dislike sleeping the way I did when I was a kid, I’m still not a fan of resting. I prefer

to be busy, and my mantra is “Work hard; play hard.” My need for rest is, in my opinion, one of

the worst parts of being a human.

Several years ago, I heard a sermon on Genesis 1 and 2. Genesis 2:1-3 says, Thus, the

Heavens and the Earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day, God

had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day, He rested from all his

work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from

all the work of creating He had done.

I had heard sermons about Jesus resting before. That made sense to me because Jesus was

human, and humans need to rest. What struck me about the passage in Genesis was that God,

who is NOT a human, chose to rest. It is important to note that the passage does not say that

God needed to rest. In this passage, “rest” means He stopped creating. In a way, the last thing

He created was the Sabbath, the holy day of rest, which is both a gift and invitation to us.

Hebrews 4:9-10 says, There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for

anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His.

Maybe we secretly believe that everything will break down if we take a rest. When you find

yourself thinking that, remember that even God rested, and nobody is more important for

sustaining the world than He is.



By Melissa Landon Schnell

Melissa is an editor at Automation.com, a member of Immanuel Baptist Church, a cyclist, and a

book lover. She lives in Lexington with her husband Daykin, dog Zoey, and cat Scooter.