What does the Bible say about rest and relaxation?

Do not suppose that one overlooks Matt. 11:28, that in Christ is a present rest for faith. "Come to me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." This is the rest of grace now, not of glory. Then follows something further too: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls." First, in pure sovereign favour, He gives rest unconditionally to all the weary that come; and then, when walking in the path of obedience and submission to Him, the faithful find rest. For if one be disobedient, one must have (as 1 John 3 teaches) the heart ill at ease. Our heart condemns us; how then can be any rest of soul? But there remains a third sense: not only rest given by Christ as a present relief to the conscience; and, again, true rest of heart found in the path of obedience and learning of Him; but the rest of God, when it is no longer a question of man and sin and self-will and misery, but all the chequered scene of toil and suffering will be over; when God will rest in the satisfaction of His own love and glory, having brought His sons and His people into His everlasting rest, rest above and rest below.

There is a marked distinction between what is said here of Jesus giving rest and our finding rest, a distinction of much importance. He does not tell me to do any thing in order that He might give me rest, it is simply "come unto me;" but in order to my finding rest, He says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." Practical obedience is made necessary.

In a world of toil and strife the very word has a refreshing sound, in whatever connection it may be used. Rest for body and mind is sweet; how much more rest for the soul? To be in quietness in relation to our fellow-men is good; better, infinitely better, is it for the soul to be in quietness with its God.

Rest is spoken of under different aspects in Holy Scripture. We are all familiar with the evangelical invitation given at the close of Matt. 11. First, our Lord says, "Come to Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." This is manifestly rest of conscience. Many labour under the burden of realised guilt; others groan under the yoke of religious ordinances by means of which they hope ultimately to obtain salvation. To all these the Saviour offers rest as a gracious gift. His atoning sacrifice has so perfectly satisfied all the claims of divine holiness in regard to sin that none need carry the burden of guilt for a single hour; so completely, too, has He finished His work that none need toil on their own account. Both the guilt laden and the ordinance-laden are thus tenderly invited to be at rest. Believers having been purged once for all have "no more conscience of sins" (Heb. 10:2). On the ground of the Saviour's work their consciences are in rest and peace before God for ever.

Then He adds, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall FIND REST UNTO your souls." This rest is quite different from the rest of conscience which I get through the work of Christ; it is the REST OF HEART, the rest of spirit, that I get by communion with Him as a living Person from day to day. The first rest is the Sinner's rest, the second rest is the Saint's rest, and there is still another rest, of which the apostle speaks in Heb. 4:9 — "There remains therefore a rest to the people of God." That is God's rest, which we are going to get by-and-by. A sinner gets rest of conscience in the work of Christ; the saint gets rest of heart in the Person of Christ, and then there is God's rest -GLORY, where sin and its fruits can never come, into which He is going to take us who believe, spirit, soul, and body, for eternity: and that is the end of the path on which the soul enters who once trusts Jesus, comes to Jesus, confides in Jesus.

Jesus knew man, the world, the generation that had enjoyed the greatest advantages of all that were in the world. There was no place for the foot to rest on in the miry slough of that which had departed from God. In the midst of a world of evil Jesus remained the sole revealer of the Father, the source of all good. Whom does He call? What does He bestow on those who come? Only source of blessing and revealer of the Father, He calls all those who are weary and heavy laden. Perhaps they did not know the spring of all misery; namely, separation from God - sin. He knew, and He alone could heal them. If it was the sense of sin which burdened them, so much the better. Every way the world no longer satisfied their hearts; they were miserable, and therefore the objects of the heart of Jesus. Moreover, He would give them rest. He does not here explain by what means; He simply announces the fact. The love of the Father, which in grace, in the person of the Son, sought out the wretched, would bestow rest (not merely alleviation or sympathy, but rest) on every one that came to Jesus. It was the perfect revelation of the Father's name to the heart of those who needed it, and that by the Son - peace, peace with God. They had but to come to Christ. He undertook all, and gave rest. But there is a second element in rest. There is more than peace through the knowledge of the Father in Jesus, and more than that is needed; for even when the soul is perfectly at peace with God, this world presents many causes of trouble to the heart. In these cases it is a question of submission or of self-will. Christ, in the consciousness of His rejection, in the deep sorrow caused by the unbelief of the cities in which He had wrought so many miracles, had just manifested the most entire submission to His Father, and had found therein perfect rest to His soul. To this He calls all that heard Him, all that felt the need of rest to their own souls. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me"; that is to say, the yoke of entire submission to His Father's will, learning of Him how to meet the troubles of life; for He was "meek and lowly in heart," content to be in the lowest place at the will of His God. In fact nothing can overthrow one who is there. It is the place of perfect rest to the heart. J. N. D.

Having thus again a little sketched the truth in this part of the chapter as regards the principles of God for guiding in service, we may pass on. The Apostles gathered themselves unto Jesus, and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. Now, there was great simplicity in this, and a most wholesome thing it is for anyone engaged in the Lord's work to go to Jesus with what has been done and taught. It is well to examine, and perhaps rehearse; but to whom can we do it with safety but to Jesus? There is such a thing as going out in service, but there should be the returning and telling Jesus all that we have had to do or say. There may be occasions where it is well and comely to cheer others with the wonderful works of God; but there is no time where it is not well and wholesome to go to the Lord about it. In His presence there is no danger of being puffed up, and thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. There we learn how little we are, and the defectiveness even of that which we most desire for the edification of one another. Our Lord thoroughly shows His interest and sympathy in this, and says to them: "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat." Well for us if we needed thus to rest more — that is to say, if our labours were so abundant, our self-denying efforts for the blessing of others were so continual, that we could be sure that this was the Lord's word for us, "Come ye into a desert place, and rest awhile"! I am afraid that sometimes we rather need to be stirred up to feel what a claim souls have upon us, what we owe, not merely to the saints of God to seek their blessing, but to every creature, for we are debtors to all. Having such a Christ as we have, we ought to feel that we have riches enough for everything — riches of grace in Him, not merely for the saints of God, but for the poorest of sinners. The Twelve had so discharged their mission that our Lord could tell them thus to turn aside and rest awhile. There was more than rest for the body: with Him what repose for the soul! It is a good thing at times to be thus alone, and yet not alone — alone from man that we may be with the only One who can give us fresh strength and, at the same time, adequate lowliness for the better discharge of our service, whatever it may be.

In this place God's insistence on the keeping of the Sabbath is most appropriate. When work has been given us to do, there may be a danger of our getting carried away because of the work we are doing. One day in the week the work was therefore to cease. Even a matter so important as the building of the tabernacle was to give place to the rest that is necessary both physically and spiritually. “The Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27), for God has true consideration for the need of physical rest, but as well as this, in man's ceasing one day a week from his work, he is intended to realize that he is not to depend on his own work, but on the grace of God. This last day of the week was therefore set aside that man might have his soul specially encouraged and strengthened in the Lord.

Sixthly, the soul that looks to the LORD for his help can count upon the unfailing care of the LORD in all circumstances. "Going" and "coming" speak of the changing circumstances that mark a world of unrest. In the gospel day, the Lord could say to His disciples, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile: for there were many coming and going, and they had not leisure so much as to eat" (Mark 6:31). In His compassionate care the Lord will give us times of rest "apart" from the busy world; but, down here, it will only be "rest awhile" — words that indicate we must be again in movement. For the eternal rest we must look on. "There remains … a rest to the people of God." Of the one that enters into that blessed rest we read, "He shall go no more out" (Heb. 4:9; Rev. 3:12). In the meantime, in all the busy round of a life of toil in a world of need, the one that looks to the Lord for his help can count on the Lord to keep him in every circumstance.

Now if you are desirous of pleasing the Lord on His day, you will never be led to self-indulgence. It is a very common and erroneous notion that the day of which I speak is one specially ordained by a gracious Providence that man should spend in idleness, which he calls rest, or in the pursuit of pleasure, which he calls recreation. That there are physical benefits derived from the weekly cessation from ordinary duties one would not deny, and in the institution of the sabbath as in Old Testament days this feature is made prominent, and suitably so to that dispensation. But I do hope that none of my young friends will descend so far below the Christian standard as to reckon the Lord's day to be one designed for self-ease and enjoyment. Supposing you have had a busy week, do you think you are a mere machine just to stop "running" until you are wanted again on Monday morning? Besides, you ought to remember that "Absence of occupation is not rest; a mind quite vacant is a mind distressed." Let the time be profitably spent for the Lord and not for self.

Amusements

We can make no rule about entertainment. The buoyancy of youth demands a certain amount of liberty which, if kept under godly limits and controlled by godly principles, is all right. For my own part, I have no desire to visit exhibitions and other shows, not on the ground that these amusements are sinful, but simply because I am satisfied without them. Christ and His interests are enough. Besides, souls are perishing and eternity is nearing, and I have neither time nor inclination to mingle with the world in admiring its toys and sharing in its pleasures.