Avodah Series

Thus, the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so, on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done (Genesis 2:1-3).

Today, we begin a new Wilderness Wanderings Series. It is called Avodah. This is a Hebrew word which is translated into English with the words: work, worship and service. There is a long history in the Christian church to separate life into the sacred and the secular. Sunday worship, personal and family devotions and evangelism are part of the sacred. The work we do to earn a living and the schooling we take to prepare for such work are part of the secular. With such a dichotomy, we live two separate kinds of lives. One for God and one to survive in this world.

But there is an older tradition, that goes all the way back to the beginning that does not separate life in this way. In various strands of Christianity, including the Reformed, we try to live by this older understanding. This is the perspective that all of life is sacred. But maybe that is not a good term. It might be better to say that “all of life is lived for God.” Paul put is like this, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

As Christians, our primary goal with our labour is not to earn a paycheck, even though that is an important element; our primary goal is to serve God with our work. This is Avodah. Our work is part of our worship of God. As Abraham Kuyper famously said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”

In this Avodah series, we will explore two basic things: work and rest. Each Monday, we will consider work as our calling from God. And on Fridays, we will consider rest. There will also be a Wednesday edition, which will be taken from the archives. If you have resources or ideas or even illustrations for this series let me know, and I will try to include them.

Since this is Friday, let’s take a moment to think about rest. There is much in our text to consider, but I will only highlight one thing: God included a day of rest into the structure of creation. When God rescued Israel from Egypt and formed her into a nation, he gave her back this day of rest. Egypt had literally tried to work the Israelites to death. There is much of such Egypt all around us. It is easy to become enslaved to our labours. The stuff we do, whether its income earning or nor, can easily become our god.

Do you include rest on your calendar? If not, maybe it is time to include “rest” times. If you are required to work on Sunday, what other day will you use to rest? Think also about this: what kind of rest are we talking about here?

Go with this blessing:

Go to Jesus and he will give you rest (Matthew 11:30). May the presence of God go with you and give you rest (Exodus 33:14).