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Genesis 2:1-3: Resting

"So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. By the seventh day God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation." Genesis 2: 1-3

Observations:

What choices did God make? 
  • God chose to rest
  • God chose to declare the day of resting "holy" 
  • God chose to bless a day
What choices could God have made? 
  • God could have chosen not to rest. 
  • God could have chosen to do some more creating. 
  • God could have chosen to say "in your face, Satan, let me see you create something this great!"
  • God could have chosen to just rest and not bless the seventh day or declare it holy. 
  • God could have chosen to further define exactly what activities he means by "rest" 
  • God could have chosen not to call his creation work "work." He could have called it "play," and he could be resting from His "play." 
Applications:
God chose to rest. God chose to rest. God chose to rest! To me this is seriously one of the most baffling choices in the Bible. It doesn't make sense on multiple levels. First of all, God's eternal, He's pretty much been resting for all of eternity (for all I know) until this creation point. Then, six days of creating, and He already needs/wants to rest again? Second, why ever rest? I feel like this is the question of our generation: why rest? Why, if you are God, with all the energy and the power in the universe, make rest holy and blessed? Just a few verses ago, you had me... you were being an overachieving, awesome God. Now, you are throwing in a day of rest, and calling it blessed? More blessed than the over-achieving days? If I'm honest, as an overachiever, I'm feeling like God just threw me a curve ball (part of me thinks He enjoys that). 

What does God's choice show me about Him? It shows me that God values rest. So, it's ok to sleep in on Saturdays :). It shows me that from the beginning a balance between rest and work was important to God. It shows me one of God's priorities is rest. It shows me that God is not an overbearing master that is only looking to see what can be accomplished. It shows me that even though God is capable of working non-stop, there must be some good reasons that He doesn't. 


And this Bible Study totally came just in time for Summer Break :) Looking forward to my season of rest!!! :)




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