Find rest

Can you list all Ten Commandments in order? Did you spot what Moses says (v 1)? ‘Learn them and be sure to follow them.’ Learning Scripture ensures that God’s words are always in our hearts and minds.

And yet, Jesus showed how keeping even the Ten Commandments perfectly is impossible (see Matthew 5.21, 22, 27, 28). Thankfully we are saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2.8), but we need to heed these words if we want to respond rightly to God in thankfulness for the new life he has given us in Jesus.

For many believers that response takes the form of hard work – at home, in the office, at school, in the street, in care homes, in church – as we do our best for God. But at what cost? Burnout is far too common in churches, both in leaders and members. Our mental and physical health and (marriage) relationships suffer when work – even Christian work – becomes an idol.

The principle of resting on one day a week (vs 12–15) is built into creation itself (see Genesis 2.2, 3). We have a responsibility to follow that pattern in our own lives, and to encourage others to do the same (v 14), to guard against any work becoming an idol.