RESTOLOGY

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention posted an article on their website entitled, “Insufficient Sleep is a Public Health Epidemic,” which documented research from the past decade on sleep-related behaviors [1]. According to their research, thirty percent of adults report getting an average of less than or equal to six hours of sleep per night when they actually need at least seven to nine hours of sleep per night. In other words, many people fail to get the rest they need even though it is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, and I would contend that many Christians fail to get the rest they need because they fail to recognize that rest is an expectation of God.

God recognized mankind’s need for rest. He knew that we need rest in order to recover from fatigue and function at our absolute best. Remember, God is the One who designed the human body; therefore, He knew it was going to get tired and need an avenue through which it could recharge. As a result, our God, who knows what we need even before we ask (Matthew 6:8), demonstrated a concern for our rest throughout Scripture. For example, in the Old Testament God provided instructions to the Israelites which demanded a time for rest. Under Mosaic Law, God instituted the Sabbath which is described as a day of “solemn rest” (Exodus 16:23; 31:15; Leviticus 23:3), a day on which “you shall do no work” (Leviticus 23:3). One reason God instituted the weekly Sabbath was for it to serve as a day that allowed workers to recover from their toil. Exodus 23:12 specifically says, “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed” (cf. Exodus 31:15; 34:21; 35:2; Leviticus 23:3). Interestingly, this day of rest was so important to God that He protected it by establishing the death penalty as the consequence for failing to observe it. In Exodus 31:14 God said, “You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people” (cf. Exodus 35:2). Now, we are not required to observe the Sabbath Day as they did under Mosaic Law. However, we would be wise to recognize that God was legislating a day of rest to ensure that His people made time for recuperation. Think about it this way: if rest was so important to God that a day legislating its observance was included in His top ten commands, then shouldn’t it still be important to us?

Maybe the reason rest is not as high of a priority today is because we do not associate any theological significance to it, but there are theological reasons to rest. First, rest is a demonstration of our trust in God. When we rest, we surrender control to the Lord by intentionally refraining from active control. In other words, when we rest, we are essentially proclaiming that everything is going to be okay without our involvement because we trust that God is in control. David realized this. He wrote Psalm 3 while he was fleeing from Absalom, his son who was trying to overthrow his kingdom. In Psalm 3:5, David said “I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.” In other words, David acknowledged that his ability to rest during such turbulent times was because the Lord took care of him. This same sentiment was also expressed by David in Psalm 4:8 where he said, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” And, it’s worth mentioning that David’s most famous psalm identified the Lord as the one who “makes me lie down in green pastures” (Psalm 23:2). In all of these passages King David associated his ability to rest with his trust in God. So, our rest can function as an expression of trust in the One who grants us rest.

Not only is rest a demonstration of our trust in God, but it can also be a demonstration of our reliance on God. Solomon, who is arguably the wisest man ever to walk this earth other than Jesus, said in Psalm 127:2 that “it is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” In other words, Solomon indicated that rest is a gift from God. It is as if he is trying to communicate the fact that God is the grand resource for recuperation when it comes to the burdens of life. In fact, Jesus is the One who invited us to rest when He said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” In other words, spiritual recuperation and eternal rest are found in Him. Maybe that’s why John heard a voice from heaven say, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them” (Revelation 14:13). That voice described heaven as a place of permanent rest. However, such rest is not a reference to physical sleep but to spiritual relief because heaven is a place where confrontation with evil (Revelation 21:1, 25), intimidation by death (Revelation 21:4; 22:2), expectation of pain (Revelation 21:4; 22:3), temptations to sin (Revelation 21:16, 27; 22:3), and separation from the Father (Revelation 21:2-3) are all made obsolete. Thus, Jesus’ invitation is an invitation to find relief from that which exhausts our souls. So, our rest can also function as an expression of reliance on the One who relieves us of the baggage with which this life burdens us.

So, today, we are challenged to rest. Not only that, but we are challenged to recognize that rest is not an activity to be viewed negatively because it prevents us from accomplishing something. Instead, we are challenged to view rest as an essential activity that demonstrates our trust in and reliance on God. Ultimately, rest allows us to function at our best, and shouldn’t we be prepared to offer God our best every day?

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[1] https://www.cdc.gov/features/dssleep/index.html 

WOULD GOD CHOOSE YOU?

Everyone wants to be chosen. Do you remember in elementary school when kickball teams were selected? Likely, your primary concern was not to be chosen last because being chosen last essentially meant nobody wanted you on their team. Do you remember when the high school prom rolled around? Whether you were waiting to be asked by a boy or hoping not to be rejected by a girl, your primary concern was not to have to go to prom alone because that meant you were not chosen. Do you remember when you waited to receive that acceptance letter from the college for which you applied or for that phone call from the company to which you applied for a job? Even in those situations we find ourselves longing to be chosen. There is something inside all of us that feels validated when other people choose us.

This inherent feeling of appreciation when we are chosen causes me to reflect on an event that occurred early in the history of the church and resulted in one individual being chosen and another being rejected. In Acts 1:21-26, Peter pointed out to the other disciples that it was necessary for Judas to be replaced as an apostle. As a result, the apostles nominated two men to be considered for this apostolic position. Their names were Barsabbas and Matthias. Based on the qualifications stated by Peter, both of these men were disciples of Jesus from the time he was baptized by John, both of these men were present during Jesus’ ministry, and both of these men witnessed the ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:21-22). In other words, both of these men were qualified. Instead of making their own choice between these two candidates, the apostles turned the decision over to the Lord. They prayed, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place” (Acts 1:24-25, emphasis added). They left the decision to God. Apostolic selection was always God’s prerogative. The original twelve were specifically chosen by Jesus after an all night prayer session (Luke 6:12-13). So, I imagine that they were thinking, or at least I myself would be thinking, “if the Son of God selected twelve apostles and one of them ended up betraying Him, then who am I to think that I can make the right selection?” So, they wisely turned the decision over to God. In so doing, they seem to demonstrate an understanding of God’s omniscience that is later described by author of Hebrews when he said, “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). 

I wonder whether or not the apostles recalled the selection of David as the successor to the Saul’s throne during their selection process for the successor to Judas’ position. When Samuel was sent to the home of Jesse to anoint the next king of Israel, he expected the eldest son of Jesse to be chosen because he looked the part. Samuel’s assumption was not unwarranted. Saul, the man he previously anointed king, possessed the physical attributes of royalty, namely that he was the most handsome and tallest man in all the land (1 Samuel 9:2; 10:23). However, when it came time to choose Saul’s successor, God told Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). At the anointing of David, God provided a glimpse into His selection process. God filled Samuel in on what He saw as important, and it had nothing to do with a person’s appearance but everything to do with a person’s character.

Returning to the story of Barsabbas and Matthias, we see one man was chosen by God and the other was not (Acts 1:26). Assumedly, this means that Barsabbas was rejected for apostolic consideration twice since the qualifications stated here (i.e. one who followed Jesus from His baptism until His ascension) seem to indicate that he was among the group of disciples from which Jesus made His original selection of apostles (see Luke 6:12-13). We will never know on this side of heaven why God chose Matthias and rejected Barsabbas. The goal of this article is not to explore why one was chosen and the other was not. Instead, the goal of this article is to challenge you to consider whether or not you would have been chosen.

Imagine that you were one of those nominees. Imagine that your name was placed before God as a candidate for this position. Obviously, no one living today would fit the qualifications of an apostle, but, for the sake of self-examination, assume that you were qualified. Assume that God was considering you to be the one who would replace Judas. Assume that God was examining your actions, your attitude, and your heart in order to compare it to other dedicated disciples so that He could determine whether or not you were worthy to serve as a foundation for His church, to use the language of Ephesians 2:20 and Revelation 21:14. Would God choose you? 

Often times we examine ourselves by considering whether or not we would go to heaven if Christ came back right now, and that is a necessary question to ask. However, it can result in a bare minimum examination. In other words, when you are considering whether or not you would go to heaven, you are ultimately considering whether or not you have met the bare minimum requirements to receive salvation, and I believe it is necessary for us to up the ante when it comes to such self-examinations from time to time. We need to examine not just our salvation status but also our commitment status, our maturity status, and our faithfulness status. By asking whether or not God would choose us as He did Matthias, we are essentially examining whether or not we are so dedicated to Him that He would deem us worthy of an exalted position. This is not an exercise in self-aggrandizement; this is an exercise in self-evaluation. So, take a moment this week and ask yourself whether or not the all-seeing God would choose you.