Our Daily Bread Devotional 16 March 2025 – Intervals of Rest
Bible in a Year :
In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth . . . but he rested on the seventh day.
Running coach Jeff Galloway, a former Olympian, teaches a marathon training protocol that has a counterintuitive component to it. New and experienced marathoners are often surprised to learn that he advocates a “run/walk” strategy: alternating running for a set number of minutes with short periods of walking. The premise behind his approach is that the brief interludes of walking enable the body to recuperate briefly, equipping runners to finish their races faster than if they had run all 26.2 miles straight through.
The importance of intervals of rest isn’t limited to running. Rest helps us sustain the lengthy effort life requires. It’s something God addresses throughout the Bible, starting in the book of Exodus. In the Old Testament, the rhythms of rest were modeled after God’s work at the time of creation: to labor for six days and then keep “the seventh day [as] a sabbath to the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:10) because God “made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day” (v. 11).
As believers in Jesus, there’s no definitive prescription for how often we’re to rest (Romans 14:5-6; Colossians 2:16-17). Rest—whenever and however we enjoy it—is meant to be restorative. Choosing to rest is also an expression of trust in God, who’s faithful to supply our needs; we needn’t (and can’t) run forever.
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Reflect & Pray
How and when do you rest? How has God supplied your needs when you’ve rested as an expression of faith?
Father, thank You for giving me opportunities to trust You through rest.
