Troublesome Topic: HOW THIS STUDY ON REST IS ORGANIZED

The Bible does not give dictionary-style definitions for very many things. Regarding rest, or Sabbath, God did not choose to send out a short tweet, He chose to paint a mural that is involved and layered. If, in typical academic fashion, we take our magnifying glass and look at just one portion of the mural we will think it is one thing, but if we step back far enough to see the entire scene, we will realize our first assumption was terribly misguided.

Being a practical God, He wants us to discover the purpose and benefits of rest through obedience. Resting is something you learn with your heart, not with your head. God told the Children of Israel that rest was very important, but only as they rested would they discover the reasons why.

The principles shared in this study series are arranged in couplets. Each chapter contains a practical principle which shows us what we are to do, as well as an underlying principle expressed as the benefit we reap from resting. There are nine couplets.

1. Make Connecting Your Goal So Rest Can Produce the Paradigm Shift You Need

2. Put the Big Stuff in First So Rest Can Bring Simplicity

3. Do Not Do What You Want on the Sabbath So Rest Can Detoxify, Heal and Make Whole

4. Remember and Celebrate So Rest Can Create Intimacy

5. Prepare ahead So Rest Can Teach Discipline amid Temptations

6. Stay at Home So Rest Can Stimulate Family Closeness

7. Rest in Cycles So Rest’s Overflow Can Bless Others

8. Make Every Effort to Fully Connect Today So Rest Can Foster the Anticipation of Heaven

9. Don’t Do Any Work on the Sabbath So Rest Can Be Made Holy

(The next section in this topical study is called Connecting Produces a Paradigm Shift. You can go to the first lesson of that section by clicking on this link: Rest Is Connecting.)