Rest Through Worship: Reclaiming Rest in the Christian Life

Have you ever noticed how obsessed our world is with rest, yet somehow allergic to it at the same time?

We book vacations, and come back more tired than we left. We buy sleep apps and self-care journals, but still lie awake at night. Our calendars are packed, our souls are drained, and even when our bodies slow down, our minds and hearts often keep racing. We’re living in a time where we’ve learned how to stop working, but we’ve forgotten how to stop striving.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Thankfully, Jesus has something better for us. In Matthew 11:28–30, He says:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

This is an invitation for all of us to live, trust, and worship differently.

Rest Began in Creation

Before commandments or covenants, before people even had a calendar to put rest days on, God modeled the act of rest. Genesis 2:2–3 says:

“And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done,
and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

God didn’t rest because He was tired, He rested because the work was complete. Therefore, rest is not an escape from your reality— it's completion.

That kind of rest was about celebration, delight, and enjoying what had been created.

And every time we rest in a way that honors God, we’re acknowledging something important:

“I’m not in charge. I’m not my own provider. I can stop because God never does.”

Rest was commanded in the covenant

When God formed Israel through the Exodus, He gave the command to rest as part of their covenant identity.

“Remember the Sabbath day, 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.”
(Exodus 20:8–10)

“You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,
and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand
and an outstretched arm.
Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”
(Deuteronomy 5:15)

For the Israelites, this was a covenant event and identity.

This holy rhythm was a way to remember who they were and who their God was. It pushed back against fear, hurry, and self-reliance, just like we need to today.

Rest was Reoriented by Jesus

By the time Jesus came, Sabbath had become a heavy, legalistic burden. The Pharisees had turned it into a checklist. But Jesus reframed the whole thing in both word and action.

In Mark 2:23–28, He responds to criticism about His disciples gathering food on the Sabbath by saying:

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus didn’t violate Sabbath. He set it free from the legalism that had been attached to it. He reminded people that rest was a gift, not a weight.

And then He declared Himself Lord of the Sabbath. Which means rest is no longer about a rule—it’s about a relationship.

Rest was Redefined in the New Covenant

The early church wrestled with how to live out rest in light of the resurrection. Should they still treat Sabbath the way they always had? Was it required? Was it still holy?

Paul answers that question with what I’d call a “firm pastoral tone”. Some of y’all might just call it a mic drop.

In Galatians 4:9–10, he writes:

“But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God,
how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world,
whose slaves you want to be once more?
You observe days and months and seasons and years!”

See? Firm pastoral tone. And here's my translation: “Y’all are slipping back into the mindset that says following the right calendar is what makes you righteous. And I’m not here for that.”

He gets even clearer in Colossians 2:16–17:

“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink,
or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”

Paul is warning the early Church to not turn the act of rest into a religious scoreboard. He calls those old covenant rhythms a shadow of the things to come—not because they were bad, but because they weren’t the end point. The point was always Jesus, and now he completes the idea of Sabbath.

So when we treat Sabbath like a box we have to check in order to earn favor with God, we’re going backwards. And Paul’s saying: don’t go back to the shadow when the Savior has come.

Rest under the new covenant is about freedom. It’s about grace. It’s about the kind of relationship where you stop striving because you know who holds your life.

This doesn’t mean we throw out rhythms or routines. It just means we don’t worship the rhythm. We worship the one who gave it to us.

How We Practice Rest Today

Here’s where we get practical.

Many of us struggle with rest because we try to fit every kind of rest into one day. We think it all has to happen at once—shutting off work, turning off parenting mode, ignoring house projects, and avoiding screens. It’s overwhelming before it even starts. But we’re free in Christ to build rhythms that actually reflect our lives. Some rest can happen weekly. Some monthly. Some things need quarterly or even annual space. And that’s okay.

Instead of trying to escape everything all at once, ask: What would it look like to enjoy what God has already given me? To step into rest with intention instead of pressure?

Let your rest grow out of love for Jesus. He isn’t asking for your perfection. He’s inviting you to trust Him.

Rest is Worship

This is where it all comes together.

Rest isn’t stepping away from your spiritual life.
It’s stepping deeper into the presence of God.

The author of Hebrews says it like this:

“So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,
for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works
as God did from His.”
(Hebrews 4:9–10)

Rest is the spiritual posture that says: God can handle what I’ve been carrying.

A Final Invitation

This week, don’t just schedule a break — Make space to come to Jesus in the rhythms of your daily, weekly, and yearly life.

Take time to breathe. Let your heart be reminded of who He is and what He’s done, and let your calendar reflect trust in Him.

You’re not what you produce. You are who He purchased.

And in Him, there is real rest. Soul-deep, life-shaping, presence-filled rest.