I was very grateful to have the day off. It's a beautiful one. The sun is out and it's 67 degrees. It's a good opportunity for rest. My wife and I have no fixed commitments today so we're being home bodies. Our dog is loving it. She seems to like it better when we're both here. I'm a little too distracted to read although we read some scripture together earlier, so I'm doing this. Next week we'll either be sanding or painting our third bedroom so rest will be spare for a while.

The importance of rest has sort of been a recurring theme throughout my life. As a kid I didn't think about it. I probably just whined if I wanted it and didn't feel I was getting it. As a teenager I came to think I was bulletproof and that rest was for the weak. As a young man I got sick once and tried to get back to normal too soon, which is something I'm still forced to do due to the demands of work.

My dad once told me that I needed to learn that rest was crucial, and that it was just as important to learn how to properly rest. I didn't realize those years ago that he meant both physically and emotionally.

I have since given rest a gradually more important place in the big picture of my small life. As I've gotten older, I've been forced into the realization that I must rely on rest and not my own drive to get me through the things I want or need to do. The history of rest in my life has gone hand in hand with the maturation of my walk with Christ.

When I was little, I didn't care about my rest with Him. When I was a very young teenager, I thought I had the idea of spirituality all sewed up. Then I met Jesus, and I began to realize that the idea of spiritual rest was crucial, and that my soul needed saving and a place to reside for eternity. Our rest in Him begins here though, and I'm convinced that our physical rest in this sojourn depends on our relationship with Him too.

Our attitude toward rest, like everything else, when it's entrusted to Him makes us more rested physically and emotionally. With Him in our hearts, and our problems truly given over to Him for direction we become more refreshed. We are renewed by Him. This situation or position, should be different for believers and unbelievers.

There's no shortage of literature these days about the mind/body connection. Some are sensible and some are out on a limb by themselves. The mind affects the body, the body affects the mind. This just a simple fact of life, but this can be a cycle of events that can have often catastrophic results, both physically and emotionally.

That should never happen to a believer. It can. It does, but it shouldn't. He is with us. We can depend on Him. He will renew us. We just have to learn to submit everything to Him, and rest in Him here and not just in some visualization down the road, somewhere else. We're here now, and He is at our side. We need to trust Him for true rest in our daily lives.

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength;They shall mount up with wings like eagles,They shall run and not be weary,They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:30,31