Exodus 23:12

On the seventh day thou shalt rest.

Labour and rest

I. That rest is needful--“May be refreshed.”

1. Rest is needful that the exhausted faculties may repose after past work.

2. Rest is needful that those faculties may be invigorated for future service.

3. Rest is needful that work may not become irksome; for if so

(1) it will be done slovenly; and

(2) done imperfectly.

4. Rest is needful that work may be free and joyous.

II. That rest is mercifully provided.

1. This rest is provided by God, lest man should overlook its necessity.

2. This rest is provided by God lest the servant, the foreigner, or the beast should be defrauded of their right to it.

III. That rest should be diligently earned. “Six days shalt thou do thy work.”

1. Not lounge over it;

2. Not neglect it; but

3. Do it earnestly, conscientiously, and well.

Application:

1. A lesson to employers. God has provided this rest; beware how you steal what God has given to man.

2. A lesson to working-men. This rest is yours by right. Then

(1) claim it;

(2) don’t abuse it;

(3) don’t curtail that of others;

(4) work during your own time, rest during God’s.

3. A lesson to the world at large. Sabbath-breaking is the direct cause of

(1) intellectual evils; overtaxed brains, etc.;

(2) moral evils; neglect of the rights of God and man;

(3) physical evils. Science has demonstrated the need of one day’s rest in seven. (J. W. Burn.)

Need of rest

We know well enough that if trains are run at fifty miles an hour over roads built to endure only a speed of thirty miles an hour, everything in a short time begins to give way, and to wear out, and the whole road and all the rolling stock gets into a dangerous condition. Every rail, every tie, every joint, every nail, every wheel and bit of machinery feels the strain and wear. The human mechanism is not less sensitive than are railroads and locomotives. The tendency of the time is to increase the speed of individual movement and progress. The over-driven human being needs constant rest and repairs, as do railroads and locomotives, and a thousand-fold more, for his mechanism is infinitely more complicated and delicate. Instead of adding more fuel to a disordered engine to make it go, we would send it to the repair shop, and let it be restored by skilled workmen to soundness. So when the mind and body are worn and weary, send them to the repair shop for rest. Sleep, quiet, nutritious food, the absence of all stimulants and whips, and goads--these skilled positive and negative workmen of nature will restore (if anything can) the wasted vitality, and bring back health and strength and soundness. (Christian Advocate.)