Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
Genesis 2:1-3

Thanks to Sunday School teachers, loving and faith-filled parents and grandparents, and the Bibles that we have read from over the years, most of us know the first story told in the scriptures; the Creation Story.

God created the world out of nothing. The Spirit (or Wind) from God blew over the deep, and in six days there was heaven and earth, land and sea (and the animals that filled land, sea, and sky), and human beings. But the world wasn’t perfected until the seventh day.

And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.

The perfect work of God, the Creation of the world, was a seven-day event. The scriptures echo this perfect number again and again. Seven signals completion and perfection.

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
Exodus 20:8-11

We are told that a day of rest should be a part of our work-week because that’s how God has structured the world from the beginning. (Work for six days and rest on the seventh.) As we mark that one day out of seven each week with worship and rest, life may seem a little more perfect.

Prayer

Lord, remind me to keep the seven-day cycle as a reality in my life so that I might focus on You and my own health. Amen.