DCLM Daily Manna 21 March 2024 

TOPIC: Rest Is Important

TEXT: Genesis 2:1-5 (KJV) 
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

KEY VERSE
“And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”

Genesis 2:3

DCLM Daily Manna 21 March 2024 MESSAGE

The following was contributed by Sermon Central on Labour Day, January 1, 2000. “Our most notorious industrial accidents in recent years – Exxon Valdez, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, the fatal navigational error of Korean Air Lines 007 – all occurred in the middle of the night. When the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian A300 airbus killing all 290 people aboard, fatigue-stressed operators in the high-tech Combat Information Center on the carrier misinterpreted radar data and repeatedly told their captain the jet was descending as if to attack when in fact the airliner remained on a normal flight path.

In the Challenger space shuttle disaster, key NASA officials made the ill-fated decision to go ahead with the launch after working twenty hours straight and getting only two to three hours of sleep in the night…” Lack of sufficient rest was thus attributed to all these unfortunate incidents that led to substantial loss of precious lives.

READ DCLM Daily Manna Wednesday 20 March 2024 – Consistent Obedience

Our text shows that God rested from His work, having completed the creative work. He blessed and sanctified the seventh day. As we apply this scriptural principle, we experience spiritual and physical rejuvenation. Our spirit and body are refreshed and renewed. We regain vitality and strength. Our focus is sharpened and our determination is restored.

Rest is good. Rest is scriptural. Rest is of God. Not only does the Scripture prescribe it, but God Himself observed rest after six days of marathon creativity. For Him, resting is setting an eternal example for man. For man, it is not a process to ignore. Observing it will help us to last longer and become more productive.

The Lord blesses us and our work as we think of Him and His blessings over us. We spend this resting day worshipping and pondering over life, prioritising God in all we do. God is the essence of living, not our work.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Follow God’s pattern and rest.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR
Jeremiah 49-50