Rest Is Good
Rest is a gift from God.
God Made the World · Genesis 2:1–3
Rest is a gift from God.
After you run and play and laugh all day, what feels so good? Sitting down and resting! Today we learn that even God took a rest. And He made rest a gift for us.
Six days. Six whole days of making.
Light and sky. Land and sea. Plants and sun and moon. Fish and birds and animals. And people.
So much making!
On the seventh day, God stops.
He looks at everything He has made. All of it, every part, from the smallest flower to the tallest mountain to the farthest star.
And He rests.
Not because He is tired. God doesn't get tired the way we do. But because rest is good. Rest is a way of saying: this is finished, and it is beautiful, and I am happy with what I made.
God blesses the seventh day. He makes it special. He makes it holy. That means set apart, different, extra good.
Can you take a big, slow deep breath? In and out.
That's a little bit like what rest feels like.
God gave us rest as a gift. When you sleep tonight, that is God's gift to you. Your body was made to rest. Because God rested first.
Prayer
Let's pray. Repeat after me:
Dear God,
Thank you for rest.
Thank you for sleep
and quiet and peace.
We love you!
Amen.
Listen to this devotional with audio narration and illustrations in the Seedling: Bible Stories app — short devotionals for Christian families with children ages 2–5.