Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. Proverbs 23:4

 

Scientists have yet to find a creature that doesn’t sleep, but when it comes to humans, well, that’s another story.

 

In earlier times our labor was ruled by the God-designed rhythms built into creation. We rose with the sun, worked and then, rested, our bodies and minds recharging in the quiet of night. Today, Wayne Muller writes, “We can work without stopping, faster and faster, electric lights making artificial day so the whole machine can labor without ceasing. But remember: No living thing lives like this. There are greater rhythms that govern how life grows: seasons and sunsets and great movement of seas and stars.” [1]

 

Before the work is ever finished–which it won’t be–we need to stop. “Don’t worry yourself to gain wealth. Be wise enough to know when to quit,” the Proverbs teach (Proverb 23:4). And the Bible book of Hebrews has a whole chapter about God’s promise of rest, declaring, “…there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:9-11a).

 

“God’s command to rest,” says Muller, “is “a remembrance of a law that is firmly embedded in the fabric of nature. It is a reminder of how things really are, the rhythmic dance to which we unavoidably belong.”[2]

 

We can stop to rest because God can take care of the universe and He can take care of us.

 

[1] Muller, Wayne. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight in our Busy Lives, Bantam Book, New York, NY, 1999, p. 69.

[2] Ibid.