Because God had created a perfect world, was satisfied that it was good, even very good, and had turned over the operation of it to His first humans, Adam and Eve, God rested. God wasn't tired or overwhelmed by what He had done in those six days, He just wanted to step out of the creating and laboring business to enjoy what He had accomplished.
Later, at Mount Sinai, God ordained a day of rest as the fourth of the Ten Commandments he gave to Moses and the Hebrews. And that day, too, was to be a day of rest from the labors of the other six. God did not ordain two week vacations, or a forty hour work week, but He did want us to have a day totally devoid of labor, cares about our gathering food for that day or asking someone else to do the work for us. The Sabbath was for all people. Yet we have a far different world now than God had when He rested way back in Garden of Eden time. Rest is not an easy commodity to find these days, and many times we "work" so hard on our days off that we need a rest day to recuperate from our rest day and a vacation to recover from our vacation.
Volunteering for Karen and me has been a way of life for for our entire born again life the past nearly 17 years. We have not really rested on the Sabbath since it was a ministry day in Church, a day to do personal chores when there wasn't time to do personal chores on the other six days, and there are never enough "hours in the day" to get everything done which needs doing. But God commanded us to rest, and here at the Passion Play we are trying to honor that commandment by slowing down or stopping when the body says " slow down" or "stop".
We open the 2016 season officially on May 6th, but there is so much still to be done, and the labor pool is pretty slim, at this point. I have always tried to listen to my body when it came to how much I could do, but I also trained myself to work more, and rest less. I can't do that anymore, so when I poop out, I take a break, and when I am totally pooped out, I stop. We find great joy in our "ministry life" here and in Georgia and with our ministry to Vietnam vets, but the bodies need to rest, recover and be renewed. The work will get done. God will bring the workers to His harvest and even if He does rest on the seventh day, He is the Best worker on the other six. Thank You, Lord for who You are, for grace, and lightening our burden when we share it with You.
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