The Pattern of Work and Rest – Fourth Commandment

The Pattern of Work and Rest

Exodus 20.8-10; Deuteronomy 5.12-14

“Remember the Sabbath day, observe it, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.”

2 Thessalonians 3.10

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

A week of work, a day of rest.

The fourth commandment prompts us to think not only about the rest we are to practice unto the Lord, but also the work He has given us to do. Work is not a curse; we do not labor and toil in this life as a consequence of the fall. Men were commanded by God to work before the fall into sin, because by so doing they enter into the creative work of God, serving as His agents to advance His beauty, goodness, and truth upon the earth by the sweat of their brow and the application of their minds. Like Adam in the garden, our work has both intellectual aspects – planning, problem-solving, assessing – and physical aspects, requiring the exertion of our bodies. All our work comes from God and is intended to engage all our faculties and strength according to His glorious purposes. For six days of every week we are to devote ourselves to our work – our work, not our jobs. The work we’ve been called to pursue includes our jobs, the means by which we earn our sustenance and provide for those in our care. But our work goes well beyond our jobs to include a variety of activities which are designed to advance the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. The Lord’s day is an excellent time to rest in the Lord, reflecting on His work of creation, providence, and redemption, and being renewed in Him for the work He has given us to do.

How would you define the work God has given you to do?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.